E. T. is an extraterrestrial visitor who befriends a young boy named Eliot. E. T. learns some English and communicates with the boy, asking for Reecies pieces and wanting to "phone home." He feels pain, makes plans, and communicates emotion. Yet, his physical make-up is very different from his human friend. He is a silicon-based life form (and thus the basic element in his body are not carbon) and his "nervous system" does not have electro-chemical impulses but works through pulses of light.
Does E. T. think or feel? Does he have a mind? Is he a person?
Andi-
ReplyDeleteE.T. is not a person but he can think, feel and has a mind. A person is not the only life form that can think and feel. Rather, different life forms think differently. Most animals have a simpler version of what we call thoughts and a mind. However, they feel pain and emotions and can think. A dog, for example, may cry if their owner leaves the room. The dog experiences a simpler form of the emotion we call separation anxiety. Similarly, if you accidentally step on a dog's tail he may cry out or yelp. It experiences pain similarly to us. E. T. is no different. Just as a dog is not a person but can clearly feel emotions, pain and thoughts. Essentially, animals have thoughts and a mind but are not necessarily a person. The way a person thinks separates them from another animal and, by extension, E.T. Other animals' thoughts are simply different from our own. E.T. is more similar to a person based on his thoughts and his mind; The difference lies in his physical makeup. He is not a person because he does not have the same type of body as a person. Similarly, a dog is not a person because it does not have the same type of body. E.T. Has complex thoughts, feelings and ideas like a person but his differences lie solely in his body. We do not think of a dog as a person because of the differences in their minds. While a dog’s body is more similar to a person's than E.T.’s is to a person’s, the dog’s mind is less similar. Both are key differences.
E.T although non human, is able to both feel and think through his mind. It is understood that E.T is a creation made from silicone and works through pulses of light. This may lead you to assume he doesn't have emotions since feelings are usually associated as a human characteristic. But the idea of being able to feel and think is one for all beings including humans and animals. Just because he is not a person does not mean he no longer processes technical emotions.It is more about defining what context we use “feelings” in rather than labeling it as something only humans can experience. To help understand this we can look at the animal Elephants. They are among the most expressive and emotional animals to exist and experience things such as anger, grief, and compassion. When struck with distress either from a death in the herd or from their own child it has been scientifically proven that their response is sadness and crying. Now It's understood animals are not humans, however that does not invalidate the fact that they too feel emotions and have a mind. This connects to the idea of functionalism, of having an input lead to an output. E.T who is non human runs under the same ideas of receiving an input and correctly responding with a feeling and emotion. He asks the boy to, “phone home” and communicates his needs with the understanding that he wants things because he feels a certain way. In the same idea humans act like this too, when we touch something hot our output response is too yell OW, and pull away. E.T acts more like a human as he has processing abilities and emotional skills, however his appearance is made of wires and metal. None of these mentioned beings were the same however all three understood and suffered emotions.
ReplyDeleteWhile Eliot and E.T. do not have the same physical make-up, E.T. shows he has a mind by having the ability to think and feel. However, E.T. is not a person because he is a silicon-based life form. Functionalism proves that E.T. can feel even with a different physical make-up. Functionalism determines any outputs of mental states are affected by inputs of internal states. The internal states that affect the mental states are "environmental effects on the body, other types of mental states, and bodily behavior." E.T. endures pain and shows emotion, so this shows that the functional states of E.T. are similar to humans. The internal activities that produce pain are the same for humans and E.T. despite the difference in physical structure. For example, Eliot and E.T. both fall off the flying bike. Both beings experience bodily damage and mental distress because of the fall. The physical structure of the beings is different but both experience the same internal states, so they both feel pain because of the rules of functionalism. Similarly, E.T. has the ability to think even though his physical make-up is different. Without the ability to think, E.T. would not be able to communicate, but E.T. communicates with Eliot by asking for candy and wanting to “phone home.” To compare, a computer has programming to be able to communicate with the user. If the user types a question into the computer, the computer will generate an answer because it is programmed to do so. Using programming the computer is able to “think” and communicate answers to the user. If a computer did not have programming, the computer would not be able to “think,” so the computer could not communicate answers to the user. Since E.T. has the ability to communicate with Eliot, E.T. has the ability to think. In addition, E.T. has a mind because of his abilities to feel pain. For example, in the zombie scenario the zombies have brains with no minds thus not having experiences. Without experiences, the zombies are not able to feel pain. E.T. is able to experience pain, so he has a mind. In conclusion, E.T.is not a person because of physical make-up, but he has the ability to think and feel thus allowing E.T. to have a mind.
ReplyDeleteET is an extraterrestrial who is foreign to Earth. Even though ET is foreign to Earth and is a silicon life form rather than a carbon life form, he is still a person who has a mind and can think. In order to be a person you do not have to be human, but you have to be an individual thinking person. The concept that only humans can be persons is wrong and places ourselves higher than other species. ET is not a homo sapiens, but he is a part of another species that have the ability to communicate in an advance way with one another. It is clear that ET has a mind, because he is able to communicate and learn the language of the boy, Elliot. You need a mind to have the ability to learn and to communicate with people efficiently. The argument that he does not have a mind can be opposed because if he did not have a mind it would meant that he was a computer. Computers do have the ability to communicate efficiently and can lean new information, but ET can feel pain and a programed computer cannot feel pain. There is an example in the movie where ET ask for reeices pieces, which is an example of ET having desire. For someone to have desire they have to have a mind and need to think. ET is able to feel pain and think, so therefore he has a mind.
ReplyDeleteAlthough E.T does not have our genetic make-up he can in fact still feel, and has a mind. The paragraph states that "he feels pain" and "communicates emotions". Although to be human our physical form does come into play, to be a thinking and emotional being it does not need to. We are under the interpretation that a thinking and a mental being must be carbon based life form but this is clearly not the case. E.T can communicate with Elliot, and he has also learned some English. This shows that E.T is able to learn and develop, showing he does have a mind. Along with showing emotion, and communication E.T is able to connect with Elliot. Unlike a computer E.T has the ability to to conceive his own thoughts, and perceive things in his own way. We also have little to no knowledge of other life forms, so to say he does not have a mind, and is not human would be an estimated guess or wrongful assumption. Although E.T does not look like humans, his mind works in the same way as humans.
ReplyDeleteAlthough E.T is not exactly like us, he is still his own kind of species. I do not think that he is a human, because he is not part of our species, but somewhere on another planet he is normal and is part of his own species. However he does share similar traits, he can think and feel, he is able to understand a little bit of our language, but he just seems different. E.T can think and feel, he can do these things because he is his own self and is able to feel pain inflicted on himself. He can also think for himself and make decisions on his own, for example, he knows that he needs to call home. He has a understanding of home and has a drive to get back to where he came from which he probably has an emotional attachment too. It would be different of E.T wasn’t able to feel pain but he acted as if he could, but in this case if you were to pinch E.T he would feel pain and act like any other being would act. After stating all this, it proves that E.T does indeed have a mind. He is able to understand things like home, and other languages, he can feel pain. He is able to think on his own and make decisions for himself. In addition, E.T sees the boy as a friend, so he is able to show emotion and companionship when interacting with the boy.
ReplyDeleteAlthough E.T. has a different physical make-up than humans, he is a person because he has a mind and is able to think and feel. He is not a human, as he is a silicon-based life form with a nervous system that works through pulses of light instead of electrochemical impulses, but he is still a person because of functionalism, which states that mental states are defined based on what they do versus what they are made of. For example, how E.T. physically experiences pain is different from humans, but functionalism supports the argument that it does not matter that he does not physically experience pain in the same way as humans, but it is the fact that he still feels and experiences pain that matters. Functionalism also explains that the inputs of internal states cause the outputs of mental states, so even though E.T. has a different physical composition, the structure of his internal states function similar to humans and lead him to the same feeling of pain. The behaviors of a human’s internal states and E.T.’s internal states are similar, so why he wants to “phone home” would cause a parallel feeling in humans for why they would want to go home. As E.T. is able to feel and experience emotions, he is also able to think on his own. Along with his desire to phone home, he demonstrates consciousness when his desire leads him to ask Elliot for Reese’s Pieces. Despite the difference in E.T.’s physical composition compared to a human’s, since he has a mind and feels actual emotions, he is a person.
ReplyDelete