Opening with David, the young protagonist, as he enters study of Professor Hobby, the blue fairy is nowhere to be found. Calling out in hopes of finding someone to help, David notices another boy, an exact copy of himself, reading a book. Moments pass as David is helplessly trying to comprehend how this child could be the “real” David when he is standing right there. Overwhelmed, David smashes the other boy to bits in a fit of hatred. This scene from A.I. leads me to wonder if John Keats is correct in saying that “nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced”. Before addressing the title, a few terms must first be clarified. It is important to recognize how even though real may refer to an individual’s beliefs, what the humans and David,
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Because of these terms and definitions, I agree with John Keats with some reservations; while being real is a direct result of experience, it is plain to see how imitation of this reality, due to learned or innate knowledge, could become just as easily accepted as true to the subject. It is often thought that “seeing is believing”, however, I believe sense perception is not necessarily required for belief and things are real even before we have seen them. This idea is arguably true through the two different types of knowledge; personal and shared knowledge. Personal knowledge is in reference to what we, as individuals, believe and know to be true through our feelings, beliefs, and memories, while shared knowledge is in reference to what we, as a society, know to be true, like scientific fact. Even though both types of knowledge can include sense perception, it is not required. For example, I know that the game of baseball is played with a baseball, a bat, and bases, however; I have never actually seen a baseball game. Despite never personally witnessing a game, I still know this information to be true because of shared knowledge. In A.I., David shows how this idea is true through his …show more content…
I believe that this way of knowing is required for belief, but more as an emotional reassurance of a belief from another person and this is true for David. In order for David to believe he is a real boy, he requires the feeling of unconditional, motherly love from Monica like she gives to Martin every day. This obsession with receiving that love even continues as far as to where David, lacking understanding, is swayed by Martin to cut off a lock of Monica’s hair, as well as other mischievous deeds, believing that only then will Monica love him. This emotional need is fulfilled at the end of the movie when David spends the whole day with Monica, as mother and child, receiving her undivided attention, until she dies. When this event occurs, David has essentially become a real boy, fulfilling his purpose and desire, and begins to cry next to Monica’s body. Conversely, there is some information that we believe to be true without any reference to emotion, but rather intuition and reasoning. An example of this within A.I., is when Martin has just come home from the hospital and is playing with David. Despite later performing the mischievous acts, when the idea of cutting Monica’s hair emerged, David initially used his intuition and reasoning to understand and deduce that Martin may be trying to trick him and that what the act entails will get him into trouble, which makes him
Because of these terms and definitions, I agree with John Keats with some reservations; while being real is a direct result of experience, it is plain to see how imitation of this reality, due to learned or innate knowledge, could become just as easily accepted as true to the subject. It is often thought that “seeing is believing”, however, I believe sense perception is not necessarily required for belief and things are real even before we have seen them. This idea is arguably true through the two different types of knowledge; personal and shared knowledge. Personal knowledge is in reference to what we, as individuals, believe and know to be true through our feelings, beliefs, and memories, while shared knowledge is in reference to what we, as a society, know to be true, like scientific fact. Even though both types of knowledge can include sense perception, it is not required. For example, I know that the game of baseball is played with a baseball, a bat, and bases, however; I have never actually seen a baseball game. Despite never personally witnessing a game, I still know this information to be true because of shared knowledge. In A.I., David shows how this idea is true through his …show more content…
I believe that this way of knowing is required for belief, but more as an emotional reassurance of a belief from another person and this is true for David. In order for David to believe he is a real boy, he requires the feeling of unconditional, motherly love from Monica like she gives to Martin every day. This obsession with receiving that love even continues as far as to where David, lacking understanding, is swayed by Martin to cut off a lock of Monica’s hair, as well as other mischievous deeds, believing that only then will Monica love him. This emotional need is fulfilled at the end of the movie when David spends the whole day with Monica, as mother and child, receiving her undivided attention, until she dies. When this event occurs, David has essentially become a real boy, fulfilling his purpose and desire, and begins to cry next to Monica’s body. Conversely, there is some information that we believe to be true without any reference to emotion, but rather intuition and reasoning. An example of this within A.I., is when Martin has just come home from the hospital and is playing with David. Despite later performing the mischievous acts, when the idea of cutting Monica’s hair emerged, David initially used his intuition and reasoning to understand and deduce that Martin may be trying to trick him and that what the act entails will get him into trouble, which makes him