Steven Pinker -- How the Mind Works - Hampshire High Italian ...

2THINKING MACHINESLike many baby boomers, I was first exposed to problems in philosophyby traveling through another dimension, a dimension notonly of sight and sound but of mind, taking a journey into a wondrousland whose boundaries are that of imagination. I am referring toThe Twilight Zone, the campy television series by Rod Serling that waspopular during my childhood. Philosophers often try to clarify difficultconcepts using thought experiments, outlandish hypothetical situationsthat help us explore the implications of our ideas. The Twilight Zoneactually staged them for the camera.One of the first episodes was called "The Lonely." James Corry is servinga fifty-year sentence in solitary confinement on a barren asteroid ninemillion miles from Earth. Allenby, the captain of a supply ship that servicesthe asteroid, takes pity on him and leaves a crate containing "Alicia,"a robot that looks and acts like a woman. At first Corry is repulsed, but ofcourse he soon falls deeply in love. A year later Allenby returns with thenews that Corry has been pardoned and he has come to get him. UnfortunatelyCorry can take only fifteen pounds of gear, and Alicia weighs morethan that. When Corry refuses to leave, Allenby reluctantly pulls out agun and shoots Alicia in the face, exposing a tangle of smoking wires. Hetells Corry, "All you're leaving behind is loneliness." Corry, devastated,mutters, "I must remember that. I must remember to keep that in mind."I still remember my horror at the climax, and the episode was much discussedin my pre-teen critics' circle. (Why didn't he just take her head?asked one commentator.) Our pathos came both from sympathy with Corry59