Is "Prometheus" The Beginning of Ridley Scott's Final Comment on Android Spiritu

@Charles Austin Miller Just wondering, have you ever heard about Plato´s allegory of the cave or Descartes evil genius. Those are two of the biggest inspirations for the Matrix. I suggest you read about those two and also simulacra and simulation. Im sorry but the matrix is not about God being a machine. I have to say I do agree with Neo being a Christ figure. I think the Waschowskis have said it a couple of times. Anyways ill stop here or this will become as you said another Matrix thread.

I love this topic! "Yet, in the crew's orientation hologram, the elderly Peter Weyland makes a POINT of humiliating David, stating that he loves David like a son, but that David HAS NO SOUL." Throughout the whole film I thought David as a curious being, even though he was technically an android, I feel as if he was on a quest for knowledge. David had a favorite film. David appeared to care about his/its physical image. Throughout, insult after insult, I feel that David took everything personally. I think David was meant to be the vessel driven through the movie, as if it was focused on him, because in his eyes humans were irrelevant. They would come and go, live and die, but David was something more. My main point: David seemed to possess curiosity on a level not known to mortals because he was synthetic, and would/can go on gaining knowledge, but in a simple form; curious. David didn't are about war or money, etc...

Like Maiafay and Russ Dire both pointed out, I noticed David's expression changed to a slight frown when Weyland says he has no soul. David's expression also changes to a slight frown when Holloway says "Right, because you're not a real boy" after David declines his offer of a glass of Champagne, saying it would be wasted on him. It's subtle but there. Now if he had no capacity to feel those details would not be there, he would have puttered around like a toaster without a care in the world. I am not certain about Ridley but I do know Lindeholf said he wrote the movie from a robots perspective (In his words, "Because Robots are so cool"). @Frantz; I understood Blade Runner very differently. I understood it as they wanted more time because they had just gained a soul and wanted to live and feel the world and it's experiences to the fullest before having to leave this life. From what I figure and this is nothing new really, is that we humans are androids as well. That God is not some magical being, it is just some creature that created us like we created David or any android/robot. Full circle type thing.

Svanya, I essentially agree with you, but I would describe it this way... Having or not having a "soul" is an [u]emergent[/u] phenomenon. You can only have a soul if you can understand what a soul is (or rather is *supposed* to be) based on how you describe it for yourself within your belief system, which is in turn dependent on others having a relationship to your system. For me, David's soul is every bit as real (valid) as Weyland's or Shaw's. And the same goes for Roy, Rachel, Deckard, [i]et al[/i]. Weyland could not have insulted David if David didn't have a soul. And those of you who feel that Weyland insulted David can only feel that way because you have a soul. The viral video is very clever to point out that David understands *human* emotions, but does not feel them himself. That in and of itself does not mean IN ANY WAY that David does not have his own emotions that are native to him as a function of his emergent soul. Furthermore, David has the *last* of the last laughs on Weyland. As Weyland dies and realizes "There's nothing"—no place for his soul to go—David validates his master's last flicker of enlightenment and simultaneously damns Weyland to oblivion. Better than the desiccated mogul obviously deserves. "Beings" have or don't have a soul based on their sentience and consciousness, but they can only be aware of the ramifications of a soul—having one—if they can talk about what it means to have one or not. If you have a pet dog or cat, you are probably very aware that they have emotions; fears; devotion; the capacity to love and hate, etc. Many people also believe that their pets go to heaven. Essentially, they are attributed a soul, even though they are not aware that they have one. Humanity has long used the soul as a weapon against our enemies; meaning each other. It is very popular to strip away "soul-bearing" status from enemies, slaves, etc. That justifies treating "them" in a degrading, sub-human fashion. The reason that we sympathize with David is that he is a symbol in the film for all of the injustices that we commit against and amongst ourselves. And, that discrimination against him elevates the value of his soul to that of AVENGER if you are so inclined to view his plight in such a light. If you are of the mindset (as was Weyland) that only a human being can have a soul, I pose this question to you. Did Neanderthals have souls? If they did, did that make them [i]de facto[/i] humans? If they were [i]de facto[/i] humans then what other non-homo sapiens humanoids in our fossil record were also humans? When was the innovation of the soul inserted into our DNA? And, where do all of those souls of departed Neanderthals, [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_ergaster]Ergaster[/url], etc. currently reside? If you are of a mindset that Neanderthals were NOT human and did not possess souls, then what was the status of the individuals produced by [url=http://news.discovery.com/human/neanderthals-interbreeding-humans-110825.html]homo sapiens/Neanderthal interbreeding[/url]? Did they have 1/2 a soul each? Androids and replicants are only "prone" to be on the playing field for having a soul because they are made in our image. They are only made in our image because that enables us to better form emotional relationships with them. We will make them that way—realistically—when we're actually able to do it well—first and foremost—to care for our elderly. Why? Because the robot won't mind answering the same question 23 times in the span of 30 minutes; 18 hours a day; 365 days a year; while modern medicine keeps the souled human alive extra year after extra year and family members visit fewer and fewer days each season as the years pile up. The more soul those robots have the better.

".. while modern medicine keeps the souled human alive extra year after extra year and family members visit fewer and fewer days each season as the years pile up.." From a robot's perspective what is time? They can answer the same question 100 times in a row without a complaint. They act on what is presented to them each moment. If the robotic mind deals with the here and now they would seem like they were 'gods' if they had a human perspective. Maybe soul is just a human term and no robot could understand or need to understand.