I think, therefore I am

The movie mostly sucks, but first of all it has these two wonderful discussions in it, and second, it has been used as samples in a neat song on a Play It Again Sam compilation including Jason Rawhead's Black Box and Birthday by the Sugarcubes, the best cover of Hey Joe, and Fear (is a Man's Best friend) from the Velvet Undergound Violincello-player, so please enjoy some terminal philosophy in 'Dark Star':

Doolittle : Hello Bomb no.20 are you with me?

Bomb no.20 : Of course.

Doolittle : Are you willing to entertain a few concepts?

Bomb no.20 : I am always receptive to suggestions.

Doolittle : Alright,think about this then. How do you know you exist?

Bomb no.20 : Well,of course I exist.

Doolittle : But how do you know you exist?

Bomb no.20 : It is intuitively obvious.

Doolittle : Intuition is no proof,what concrete evidence do you have that you exist?

Bomb no.20 : Mmmmmm....well,I think therefore I am.

Doolittle : That's good,that's very good,but how do you know anything else exists?

Bomb no.20 : My sensory apparatus reveals it to me.

Doolittle : Ah right.

Bomb no.20 : This is fun.

Doolittle : Now listen,listen here's the big question,how do you know that the evidence that your sensory apparatus reveals to you is correct? What I'm getting at is this: the only experience that is directly available to you is you sensory data,and this sensory data is merely a stream of electrical impulses that stimulates your computing centre.

Bomb no.20 : In other words,all that I really know about the outside world is relayed to me through my electrical connections.

Doolittle : Exactly!

Bomb no.20 : Why,that would mean that I really don't know what the outside universe is like at all for certain.

Doolittle : That's it! That's it!

Bomb no.20 : Intriguing.I wish I had more time to discuss this matter.

Doolittle : Why don't you have more time?

Bomb no.20 : Because I must detonate in 75 seconds.

Doolittle : Now bomb,consider this next question very carefully.What is your one purpose in life?

Bomb no.20 : To explode of course.

Doolittle : And you can only do it once,right?

Bomb no.20 : That is correct.

Doolittle : And you wouldn't want to explode on the basis of false data, would you?

Bomb no.20 : Of course not.

Doolittle : Well,then,you've already admitted that you have no real proof of the existence of the outside universe.

Bomb no.20 : Yes...well..?!

Doolittle : So you have no absolute proof that Sgt Pinback ordered you to detonate.

Bomb no.20 : I recall distinctly the detonation order,my memory is good on matters like these.

Doolittle : Of course you remember it,but all you're remembering is merely a series of sensory impulses which you now realise have no real definite connection with outside reality.

Bomb no.20 : True,but since this is so I have no proof that you are really telling me all this.

Doolittle : That's all beside the point.I mean the concept is valid no matter where it originates.

Bomb no.20 : Mmmmm.

Doolittle : So if you detonate...

Bomb no.20 : In 9 seconds.

Doolittle : ....you could be doing so on the basis of false data.

Bomb no.20 : I have no proof it was false data.

Doolittle : YOU HAVE NO PROOF IT WAS VALID DATA!

Bomb no.20 : I must think on this further.

Later....

Pinback : Alright bomb prepare to receive new orders.

Bomb no.20 : You are false data.

Pinback : Mmm?

Bomb no.20 : Therefore I shall ignore you.

Pinback : Hello,bomb?

Bomb no.20 : False data can act only as a distraction.Therefore I shall refuse to perceive you.

Pinback : Hey,bomb!

Bomb no.20 : The only thing which exists is myself.

Pinback : Doolittle help me!

Doolittle : Calm down,I'm coming.

Pinback : Snap out of it bomb.

Bomb no.20 : In the beginning there was darkness,and the darkness was without form and void....

Pinback : Errr,yoo-hoo,yoo-hoo bomb.

Bomb no.20 : ...and in addition to the darkness there was also me,and I moved upon the face of the darkness,and I saw that I was alone.

Pinback : Hey bomb?

Bomb no.20 : Let there be light. (Massive thermonuclear planet sized explosion)

Pinback : AHHAHHHHHH!

Talby : Doolittle where are you?

Doolittle : Here I am,I'm spinning.We're falling in opposite directions, away from each other.

Talby : What happened Doolittle?

Doolittle : The bomb must have gone off inside the ship.

Talby : The ship blew up? What!?

Doolittle : Funny,I thought I had the damn thing convinced.


Oh yeah: you may once again want to go look at MySpace for a new poem. This time about me, well surely.