“Eureka”
In Eureka’s Season 1, Episode 2, “Many Happy Returns”, signs of paranormal activities and technological advancements are the focus of the episode. In the future that Eureka portrays, ghosts and phantoms have the ability to possess inanimate objects, mostly those with electrical functions. This type of paranormal activity can actually be seen by the human eye in this type of a future, whereas in the present day, we have no evidence that there are ghosts or phantoms out there that are lurking around in desolated or haunted areas, or even taking control of electrical appliances. Though the idea of the supernatural may be a thrilling idea to some people, it seems frightening to me. If there are invisible forces out there lurking around, who can say that they’re not watching somebody 24 hours each day? The lack of a personal privacy, even though technically we wouldn’t be aware of any ghost spying on us, would make us live in fear that something out there is watching our every action. This can promote paranoia, or force us to live inside the rules and laws, restricting our very lifestyles. Even the idea of a sentient robotic A.I., as seen in this episode, can promote the very same fear. A sentient A.I. that can manage a household can view every room at the same time, and therefore, can look at everything inside. It can be awkward or nervous for one to be constantly watched at in one’s own personal home and space.
In this episode, the writers of Eureka wanted to explore the viability of certain technology. One point the writers bring up is the idea of convenience or too much convenience. In the episode, there is a fully automated house that is controlled by a robotic and sentient A.I. that is able to do anything household related for the person, such as offering something to drink, opening up a TV, or even operating as an alarm clock. The person ends up relying on the house to essentially make life easy for him. All of these events that the writers puts in showcases all the positives of having automated technology, but to counterbalance, there is one fatal weakness that the writers put in as well. If a blackout occurs, the technology ends up malfunctioning or not working as intended, which can throw a wrench into one’s daily habits, as seen when the character wakes up much earlier than expected. There is even a moral aspect to the idea of expanding technology that the writers wished to make a point about. Cloning is used in this episode to duplicate a person. But duplication in this episode carries a negative connotation; the character has no recollections of what happened after she was cloned and is emotionally shocked at the events that occurred to her original self. There were no positives in this scenario about cloning technology. This episode of Eureka makes the audience ponder and question about technology and whether its intentions are pure or not. Generally, technology in our minds carries a positive connotation, as it enables us to accomplish feats that we wouldn’t normally be able to do. However, not all technology is considered to be beneficial for us, and can lead to moral and complicated issues. Technology isn’t as simple as being completely positive; there are both pros and cons to weigh when considering technology for the future.
The depiction of the future that Eureka brings makes us question if maybe there is such a thing as “too much research and/or development.” Sometimes, the saying, “ignorance is bliss” may hold true for this particular scenario. If the whole world in the present day were suddenly aware that there were ghosts around us and spying on us, the world would probably erupt in chaos trying to figure out the ghostly phenomena. People would panic over their privacy being violated all these years and become paranoid about the lack of privacy and whatever powers the supernatural have besides being invisible. Humans, for the most part, do not react well when dealt all of a sudden with a scenario that logically and rationally makes no realistic sense whatsoever.
Eureka also depicts a future where the possibility of having a robotic A.I. do everything for oneself in terms of household chores and responsibilities exists. If we do research too much and make life too simple for ourselves, will we be completely reliant on technology and be sloths laying around at home doing nothing but watching television all day? Even today, it’s hard to go even one day without using technology to help us. We have alarm clocks to wake us up, cars and vehicles to take us to work, electrical appliances like microwaves and stove-tops to cook food, and computers and televisions for communication and entertainment. Technology is constantly evolving, but should there be a limit to this evolution so as to develop our own internal abilities to sustain and nourish ourselves independently of technology, or let technology do the work for us? Technology is convenient, that much is certain, but is too much convenience detrimental to the prosperity of the human race?
