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Her spike jonze love story9/28/2023 ![]() This pairing of our brains makes deep emotional connection among mammals possible. The authors describe a non-verbal exchange that happens between nearby nervous systems. A General Theory of Love, a book published in 2000 by Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini and Richard Lannon, introduced the concept of “limbic resonance”. Human importance starts in the ancient parts of our brains we understand the least. If you haven’t seen the film, I won’t give away any spoilers but, I will say, Theodore miscalculates his risk of loss. An OS (coupled with a smartphone or a smart car or your Internet of Things) can help with important tasks - or even trigger an emotional experience - but it can never embody importance. We often turn to virtual companions instead of our breathing ones in part because we try to manage the risks of deeper human connection. Virtual Companions and Relationship Risks There is an unavoidable potential of death, dementia, infidelity or change of heart. We unnecessarily lose attraction, cheat or turn away from important human beings because the longer we are in love with someone, the more we face the very real risk he or she will leave us. What is so dangerous about desiring someone you have is that you can lose him or her.” In his book Can Love Last? The Fate of Romantic Love Over Time, Dr. Why does this man-machine coupling succeed when Theodore’s marriage failed? The late relational psychologist Stephen Mitchell wrote, “Sustaining desire for something important from someone important is the central danger of emotional life. She appears to fall in love with him, too. (She’s not the Siri who curtly told me, “Sorry, I can’t look for places in Malaysia,” when I asked her for directions to a yoga studio last week.) Theodore falls in love with Samantha (or at least enacts a love story, including the familiar antagonisms of modern human relationships). She is self-aware (if not yet self-actualized), and her voice is simultaneously kind, caring, witty and sensuous. Samantha speaks to Theodore, and she sounds human despite her lack of a human body. Once Theodore installs the OS (who names herself “Samantha”), we see a more significant innovation. The opening scenes showcase a possible, predictable future. We see him at home, playing a virtual-reality video game using gestures - like those we might conduct with our hands in empty air today via Microsoft Kinect or a Leap MOTION controller. We see him at his job, ghostwriting personal letters on a computer by speaking into a microphone. Before this, he is overcome with loneliness, suffering through recollections of moments tracing their courtship and marriage, from happy to very challenging. ![]() Her’s main character Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix), installs a new operating system after separating from his wife. The question we should chase is: How do we avoid killing love as we increasingly rely on helpful things like technology? Spike Jonze’s Her: On Love + Technology ![]() As we imagine what’s next, the challenge for designers and computer scientists is not how to make devices more human or more lovable. It’s a love story (or two) - but it’s also science fiction, delivering a clear point-of-view regarding how we’ll interact with technology in the generations to come. The central characters may be this man and his OS, but the movie asks necessary questions about the complexity of human relationships. Her, a Spike Jonze film, is about a man in a near-future time who falls for an artificially-intelligent operating system. We pay close attention to movies that have something important to say about love: What it is and what it’s not, how we find love (and avoid losing it) or why we need it in our lives …
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