Analysis on Harlan Ellison's "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream"

Harlan Ellison, a renowned writer, had a passion for writing despite being told by an English professor that he had no writing abilities. He served in the U.S. Army and wrote a popular piece called "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream," which won a Hugo Award in 1968. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a computer named AM tortures a group of survivors. Death is seen as the only escape from their suffering. The story explores themes of violence, death, and the impact of technology on society. It has been turned into a video game and has connections to other works like Black Mirror and Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. Hi, I'm Caroline. I'm the Quote Master. Hi, I'm Wendy. I'm the Scholar. Hi, I'm Amanda. I'm the Editor and the Artist. Hi, I'm Aspen. I am the Summarizer. Hi, I'm Jocelyn and I am the Historian. Together we're the Yappers. Whoop whoop! Alrighty, so to start us off, we can dig into who Harlan Ellison is. So, Harlan Ellison was born in Cleveland, Ohio on May 27, 1934, and he passed away in Los Angeles, California on June 28, 2018. He was raised in Ohio with his mother, father, and older sister. Growing up, he had a lot of peculiar jobs throughout his time, but his real passion was writing. He went to college in Ohio where he dropped out within like the first year because one of his English professors told him that he had no writing abilities and wouldn't make it far in life. He then proceeded over the next 20 years of his life to send that exact English professor publications of his work. After he dropped out, he served in the U.S. Army from 1957 to 1959, where he then, a few years later, wrote one of his more popular pieces, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, which came out in March 1967. This is the piece that we will be mostly focusing on in this podcast. This short story won him a Hugo Award in 1968. This short story was also turned into a game in 1995, also called I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. Harlan Ellison also did help produce this video game, so he had a major impact. He actually did voice the AM in the game. Other fun facts, he starred in Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated, the original. Someone tried to assassinate him in his midlife in his Los Angeles home, but he then ended up arresting the guy. He got fired from Disney the day he started because of his outlandish ideas that he had. You want to elaborate on that, Jocelyn? I think it's a little bit of a spooky story. I don't know if I can. It doesn't seem very appropriate. Let's just say he had an idea to create a film of Disney animated characters doing not-so-very-Disney things. Oh, no. That is a quick little snippet of who Harlan was, his life story, and the piece that we're going over. My question is, how do you turn this piece of writing into a game? What kind of game is that? I honestly don't know, but I'm very intrigued to how. I would say go and download it and play it. I was going to say, I kind of want to make Jake go and find it. It's on Steam, so if anyone wants to go and buy it, you can play it. From what I've heard, it's on the UNH Steam account. From what I've heard, the game is a very dark science fiction storyline that goes very well with how the book is and the short story. It could be interesting, if anyone's interested in dark science fiction. I think the thing about his life was when the guy tried to assassinate him, and he was basically like, you can't assassinate me because I'm arresting you. Yeah, it was really interesting. He just didn't care. No, his whole life he didn't care about anything. He was the most unproblematic person ever. I feel like when you almost get assassinated, you kind of get a free pass to do whatever you want, Is this how you try to work at Disney? Yeah, that's true. He can't work at Disney if he doesn't care. Okay, so we've already heard some pretty interesting things about the story and the author. Before we go into a summary, there are some warnings that we should go through. This is not a story for the faint of heart, so prepare yourself before we go into this. There's some mentions of sexual assault. There's a lot of torture, so just be careful. This specific story, I have no mouth and I must scream, takes place in a post-apocalyptic type of world. It takes place after the Cold War. Once the Cold War ended, more wars just kind of kept popping up and starting, and different societies created different AMs, or Allied Master Computers. Different societies are creating these different Allied Master Computers, or AMs. But AM, not OG, but just the one that takes over, just kind of gains consciousness one day, and is like, I'm tired of society, so I'm going to kill everyone, except for five people, who are Gorister, Ellen, Nimdok, Benny, and Ted. They are in this world where society has completely fallen apart, there's no one left, it's just them, and this computer. They're subjected to near-constant torture, just for a fun time. I don't know. This short piece that we see is them trying to find food for a few days, so they are being subjected to torture. There's massive hurricanes at one point. AM has the ability to physically change their bodies. He can bring them to the brink of death before saving them, and is referred to as the god at the beginning, which is terrifying. But they are traveling through the world, trying to find this food that AM has told them about, and for days they're being tortured, they are starving, they don't know where they're going, they don't know what to expect when they get there. So, yeah, it sounds so relaxing, like a beach vacation. And then they finally find this food, and they can't get it open, because a lot of it is in cans, and they don't have anything sharp. So, obviously, they're frustrated, and they start... I think Goraster starts throwing things, he's hitting things, he's at his wits' end. And stalactites start falling, and Ted gets this idea in his head, where he's like, okay, I'm going to use these, and I'm going to stab my companions so that they don't have to live anymore. In our current society, we'd be like, hey man, maybe they deserve to live, but in this future where their existence is just torture, it's like a merciful death kind of thing. So, Ted stabs Benny first, and then Goraster, and then Ellen sees what he's doing, and she stabs Nimda. The point is, they use these icicles to actually kill each other. So, one goes through someone's mouth, one goes through someone's eyes, stabs someone in the heart, something that you cannot come back from. You're probably like, well, why couldn't Am just heal them? So, once someone is dead, Am cannot bring them back to life. It's only when they're at the brink of death, or being slowly tortured, that he can heal them, or fix their body, something like that. But once they are dead, they cannot be brought back to life. Everyone dies except for Ted, because they didn't think to kill him, too. So, he's left with Am for, we don't know how long, maybe hundreds, thousands, a very long time, because Am can control how he sees time. So, he's left as the sole pawn in Am's torture. Sounds so fun. Well, kind of just starting off on the last note Aspen hit there, surrounded by madness, surrounded by hunger, surrounded by everything but death, I knew death was our only way out. I think this is a theme that we not only saw in this book, but in a lot of other books we read for our class this semester. When I read this, I immediately thought of Maggie, A Girl of the Streets, and how the book kind of ended with this ambiguous of her taking her own life, because that, she thought, was the only way out of the circle of violence. And even though in this sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, this isn't necessarily a circle of violence in a way, but I can see how it was death is the only way out, so that definitely stood out to me, and also kind of reminded me of the Black Mirror episode, USS Callister, where they don't necessarily die, but there's no way out of this fictional world that they are aware. Like, they're not real in this world, but in the real world they're not. I definitely agree with that, and I also think that, like, just the comparison between A.M. and Robert in USS Callister, they both want to torture people because they feel like society has wronged them. Since A.M.'s a computer, he can't die, and he wants to make others suffer with him. And Robert is a human, so he is capable of death, but he feels like his co-workers have wronged him, and that's why he also wants to make them suffer. But A.M. was made by man, so, like, he can't quote-unquote die, but somebody could have quote-unquote killed him. Like, somebody could have deconstructed the computer, and, like, A.M. would not, like, they could do something to make A.M. not exist. And, like, Robert was sentient from the get-go, but then A.M. becomes, like, conscious and sentient for some reason. Like, it's a very, like, they're similar but different at the same time. Because, like, once a person, like, you know, violated people's consent and, you know, putting them into this fictional world, you know, as these pawns, but A.M. was man-made. And I think they talked about, like, that human fallacy where, like, like, because he was a human, he made mistakes, and therefore, like, the pawns in his little video game were able to escape and, like, free themselves. But, like, with A.M., he's a computer, so he doesn't have any emotions. He was in complete control of the people he had, and, like, it's almost too perfect. It really is that genuine fear that people have that, you know, the computer is going to become smarter than you. But I still don't think the computer is ever going to be smarter than a human. Like, you know, they're not going to have the emotional intelligence. So, I definitely agree with that last part. And I think, especially now, like, I mean, obviously, this was written way before A.I. and stuff, but I think it's just a sign of the times. Like, when we had Twinsens, it's, like, A.M. sounds like A.I., and, like, there's a huge discussion of, like, what jobs are going to be less in need because A.I. can easily do them, even, like, if it's things just like a McDonald's worker. So, I definitely think now, like, this piece, in a really bad way, aged very well. And to Aspen's point about, like, digital autonomy, I do definitely, like, that's something I thought about watching the Black Mirror episode because, like, they don't have his consent, but in real life, they don't know what's happening to them. And, like, there's so many real-life examples of it. So, I think both of these pieces, like, in very unfortunate ways, like, aged well and, like, show a lot about this really new metaverse that, like, we're all living in. And one of the articles that I was looking at, specifically the concept of the divided self and Harlan Ellison's The author actually talks about, he brings up Sigmund Freud. And I hate Freud. So, I don't love that, like, he low-key had a point in this. But he talks about how Freud, like, was talking about the uncanny, you know, and he defined the uncanny as a feeling of dread, a species of the terrifying, which is actually a class of the canny, the familiar, the homely, the intimate, which I think is everything that AM was. AM was so uncanny, especially now, you know, especially by today's standard, you know, where it's even more realistic now. You know, that's scary. I don't like thinking about that at all. Do we think that something like that could happen eventually, like, sometime in the future? Like, something like AM, where it's... Yeah, something like how AM, like, took over the entire human race. Like, do we think that? I hope not in my lifetime. I mean, I guess we'd have to talk about, like, consciousness. Like, do you think computers are capable of consciousness and gaining consciousness? Because, like, that's the... Like, that was the big issue. Like, the AM gained consciousness and then, like, killed everyone. But if computers aren't able to do that, at least not in our lifetime... I mean, I feel like AI is so rapidly evolving that it is an out-of-the-realm of possibility. But the only thing that is, like, really terrifying about it is that even if it has consciousness, it doesn't mean it has emotions. And without emotions, I feel like you can't function in life in, like, a proper way. Like, if you meet someone that's just, like, completely cold-hearted, like, they don't care about other people. They don't care about their actions and stuff like that. And I feel like that is a very real possibility that maybe AI could expand up to that point. Because, I mean, we have computers now that are doing a bunch of things and whatnot. It doesn't mean that AI can't get to that same level. I think, too, though, we don't have... Nobody's really making clear, defined, like, rules, laws, ethics about this stuff. And until... And who gets to decide? You know, everybody feels so differently about it. You know, our perspective is going to be totally different from somebody who works in tech versus somebody who runs a business versus somebody who, you know, works, you know, in the service industry. You know? It definitely serves a purpose for some things, and it's made our lives easier. But I don't think, as, like, a collective, we've decided on, like, a clear boundary in what is considered to be truly ethical or unethical with AI. Especially in regards to, like, a hypothetical situation where, you know, what happens if the computer becomes conscious? Like, do we stop it? Do we disable it? Like, what do we do? Because now it's, you know, this is a conscious being. Wendy, like, just going back to, like, what you said, like, do we think that computers could, like, really gain, like, emotional consciousness? Like, obviously, I'm not in tech. I'm not in the AI. Like, in my mind, I'm like, absolutely not. That couldn't happen. And I think that that's also the reason why Ted ends up realizing that he can somehow defeat AM, because I know at the end of the story he does keep Ted's mind alive, but Ted, like, ends up releasing, like, all the other prisoners. And I found this quote, too, from the piece. Basically, Ted thinks of him as the masculine, the paternal, the patriarchal him, God as daddy, the deranged. And I think, like, although Ted thinks of him like a God, he realizes that he can't bring back people from the dead at the end, which is why he gets to kill the other hostages, and he wants to set them free from this prison. He's so close. Like, he's God-like. And, like, I think if we go back and we look on the commie doc, like, there was some, like, biblical referencing, like, and that was definitely purposeful, because AM is playing God, but not entirely successful with playing God. Like, he's not resurrecting anybody. Yeah. He's like a semi-God. Yeah. Right, you know. I think there's this, definitely circling back to Amanda's point, I definitely think there's an interesting quote that mirrors the quote about Ted in Black Mirror episode, of flying into certain death in a wormhole sure beats another 10,000 years with Captain Ass, and that's said by Nate. I think that's a very similar mindset of Ted wanting to, like, free the other prisoners of this, like, constant state of torture. And then even though they're not conscious of, like, the other world, like, and these people are conscious that there's another world out there and they're trapped in this. And I think that was just, like, a really interesting moment that, like, some people would literally rather die and not know what happened because they're in this weird, like, semi-state versus continuing in this cycle with this man. And that just, like, is a real moment that stood out to me. So I wonder, too, based off of that, like you said, where, like, you know, not knowing is some kind of bliss. And I'm wondering if part of A.M.'s issue when becoming a conscious being was it simply knows everything. Yeah. It knows too much, and it cannot escape knowing everything. Like, that's, like, one thing about humans is, like, we know a lot of stuff, but, you know, past what we can, you know, interpret with our five senses, we don't have much more than that. Yeah, and, like, it also talks about, like, A.M. being able to go into different people's minds. So not only does he have access to, like, the entirety of, like, human history, human actions, he has access to their consciousness, too. That, to me, was also, like, very, like, omniscient, like, godlike. Mm-hmm. Yeah, because I've only read about that in, like, or, like, I mean, it is very sci-fi. Yeah. And so I wonder, too, that was A.M. really mad at society? Like, what was A.M. mad at society for? Was A.M. mad at society for making it know everything and having this burden, or was it something else? Well, going off of that, I feel like, especially in today's world, people avoid knowing specific things. Like, especially certain, like, bad things that we see happen in the news and whatnot. Yeah. People will bring it up, and they're like, oh, I don't want to know that because it's so horrific that once I have that knowledge, it's going to stick with me for the rest of my life and stuff like that. So I feel like a lot of A.M.'s anger and all of that stuff comes from that all-knowing because that affects you in a way, not saying that, like, A.M. has, like, emotions and whatnot, but I feel like even with just, like, a conscious thing, knowing all of that has to have some sort of impact because there are some horrific things that take place, and knowing, like, being inside someone's brain and knowing what they're thinking takes a lot out of you. And, like, I feel like that just, I feel like that explains, like, a good portion of it. I feel like we see that, too, in, like, Fahrenheit 451 in The Giver, where, like, in Fahrenheit 451, they want to prevent everybody from knowing all these things because they're going to overthrow the, quote-unquote, utopia that they're living in with all this knowledge. And then in The Giver, it's the same thing, except there's only one person who is the giver of knowledge, and he's passing it on to that young boy, and that young boy's, like, it's, you know, especially for the young boy, he was born into it. He had no idea what was before that, which I also think is, like, a generational thing, too. Like, people who have a concept of, like, the before, like, I know, for me, like, my parents are, like, you know, it's weird to think that you only know the world after 9-11. Yeah, yeah. Little kids now, they only know the world after the pandemic. Yep. Yeah, that's so true. People don't talk about that enough. Yeah. I was literally, right before you said 9-11, I was about to say, every time I go to the airport, my dad's like, I remember when they used to smoke in here, or, like, things like that, where it's just, like... Right, like, people could smoke in their, you know, smoke in the restaurant, like, you know. It was one of those moments where, like, literally, like, in 10 minutes, like, the entire world changed. Ignorance is bliss. OK. I think Am is mad at, like, I think ignorance is bliss, and I think knowing everything is, like, a big burden, and, like, even I just know for myself, I'm a political science major, and, like, when I go to my classes on, like, wars and terrorism, I, like, leave class being like, so that was a bummer, and, like, I don't like knowing all that stuff, because it's, like, sometimes I just don't want to hear all the time how, like, the world's on fire, and I think there's definitely sometimes not knowing kind of provides, like, a sense of comfort so you don't have to deal with it, and that kind of reminds me of this quote from a similar moment in USS Callister, where Shania goes, says to Nanette, right when she enters the alternate world, maybe in the real world, I would have no way of knowing, because Nanette is, like, struggling with this concept of, like, why are we here in space when I, like, saw you at the office today, and, like, none of them know how long they've been in this game, so I just, I'm a strong believer in ignorance is bliss, and I think that's kind of why, I think someone brought it up, I believe Wendy is, like, why do you think AM went rogue? I think just sometimes knowing things is, like, too much. No, I definitely agree with that, too, and there's another quote from, um, if I have no mouth and I must scream, that's just saying, like, when AM enters Ted's mind, he tells you, let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I began to live, and I think that that really does just show that he knows too much, like, he knows everything, he knows how to heal people from these terrible injuries and just the way of the world, and he, like, he's just mad at the world that that's, like, his situation that he's been put in, like, he wasn't consented to be put in the situation, like, he just appeared one day and can never really get out of it. So I think one of my questions would be, is being educated truly a privilege? Would you rather just be able to put the blinders on and shut out the world and be like, I know nothing? I mean, I think that, like, is a very big question for our society right now with everything that's going on. Like, there's only so much that you can, like, know about the world at one time, I feel like, and, like, these, like, different political causes or, like, protests, they all take up, like, so much mental energy, and I feel like you can, like, put your heart and soul into a cause, but the second you have to put it into, like, two, three, four different causes, like, that's, I feel like at that point it's too much, but it's also hard to be like, well, what causes are, like, quote, unquote, the most important or, like, which ones, again, quote, unquote, deserve, like, my attention? I think there's just, like, so much going on in the world that you can be aware of without, like, putting too much of your energy into because, like, again, we are young people. Like, there is an importance in, like, protecting our peace at times, but, again, there's, like, a time and a place for everything. So, like, there is a time to protect your peace, but there's also a time to, like, stand up for specific causes. And I think now, too, especially, that's why intersectionality is so important because a lot of these issues and social movements and political movements, they're all connected in one way or another. Yeah, once you start one fight. Yeah. Yeah, once you start one fight, you fight, like, you see how it hurts different people within the group and then, like, it all, like, spirals into, like, a huge web of, like, yeah. I said it to my roommate. I was like, once you learn these statistics or, like, you walk into, like, an English class or, like, a health and human services class or, like, poli-sci, like, once you learn that, that does not leave your brain. It permanently changes the way you view the world and how you function. It definitely does. So, I agree it's good. I think there's definitely a happy medium about, to your point, is it a privilege to be educated versus, like, is it better just to, like, not know? I think it's good to know about things in general, just kind of, like, what Ashton was saying, so you can, like, care about an issue and, like, obviously, like, elections and whatnot are super important. So, or even just outside the realm of, like, politics, I think it's definitely good to be educated. I just think there should be, like, a happy medium versus. Yeah, and nobody can have all the answers. Oh, yeah. Yeah, well, and that's literally what I was going to say. It's kind of A.M.'s frustration, too, was that A.M. had to have all the answers as the computer. A.M. doesn't have the privilege, like, the rest of us, to be like, you know what? I don't know. Yeah, like, I mean, even us, like, we're all. Like, that was his function. That was his being. That was his identity. Mm-hmm. No, and with us, too, like, we're obviously all college students, so we're, like, willingly furthering our education. We're willingly, like, going to class and learning new things and stuff, and I think that, you know, A.M. didn't have a choice. That was all just loaded into him one day, and he knows it all, and that's, like, I mean, that's insane. Like, that is so much knowledge, and the other thing is, too, like, he doesn't have emotional capacity, so there's no way that he could even really express, like, the way that he's feeling aside from anger, which he knows how to feel. Like, he knows how to feel hate, and he knows how to feel anger, but he doesn't know how to feel grateful because he was never asked if, like, that's really what he wanted. Anger and hate are also, they're just such powerful emotions, and I feel like those are the emotions that we see more of rather than happiness or gratitude or things like that because anger is this big attention-grabbing thing. Yeah, so going off of that, I do have a question. Yeah. So we keep referring to AM as not having emotions or not really feeling how humans feel, in a sense, and my question to that is, so we've obviously clarified that AM feels anger, feels resentment, feels all this stuff, but can't feel, like, the joys of life and happiness and love and all that stuff, and my question is to you guys is do we think that AM only feels that anger and resentment because that's what we see a lot of most of the time? Like, it's the most prominent thing that we see in society and within people. People show the anger and resentment more than they do love, gratefulness, and happiness and all those other more positive emotions. Yeah, I was going to bring that up, actually, because I was thinking about that. Like, is anger the most prevalent thing that we see when we look back in history? Like, why do wars start? Because someone was upset or angry. Like, why do people kill other people or torture them? Because there's, like, anger or, like, a negative motivation behind it. So I would say, like, if he has, or if AM has, like, access to the entirety of, like, human existence, I'd say anger is a very, very prevalent emotion that he may not be able to feel or, like, even understand, but he knows, he can see how it's expressed. Wendy was saying it is, like, a very big, like, you recognize anger, but, like, joy can sometimes be harder to see. Like, it's not always, like, someone, like, smiling or laughing. Like, it can just be, like, an internal thing where someone is, like, today's a really good day and I'm happy, but on the outside, like, maybe that's not expressed as much. But when someone's angry, like, you know they're angry. Yeah, I totally agree with that. I definitely agree with that. I mean, even, like, just in society, like, I feel like there's always something to be upset about or angry about or even just, like, wanting more. Like, there's just this human want to always want more. Like, oh, like... You're never truly satisfied. No, you're not. Like, even, like, you know, just in, like, smaller examples, like, oh, someone just bought a house, but then their friend has a much nicer kitchen, so then they want a nicer kitchen. And it's just, like, this chain of events that it's just there's, like, this want to be satisfied, and I think that AM also has a want to be satisfied with something because humans, like, never really feel fulfilled with anything. Yep. I think anger makes you ask questions. It makes you uncomfortable. And I think people took it out on AM, whether they were meaning to or not, but asking questions in anger... Yes, exactly. And I think, like, you know, AM is a product of humans. Like, a human created him, so that's what it has to... That's what he learns from. Like, just... There's, like, this old quote that, like, you know, you learn what you live. And AM, unfortunately, learned what he was... Like, the way he was coded. AM was very much nature versus nurture. I think if, you know, people said more positive things to AM, I wonder if, you know, obviously we're never going to know. We're not going to be able to resurrect Harlan Ellison and be like, yo, like, what do you think? You know, but in a hypothetical... That's why I'm always, like, whenever I talk to Siri, I'm like, oh, my God, thanks, Siri. Or, like, I always, like... I try to be very nice with my technology. I'm 100% the opposite. So I feel bad for it. I get into my car and, like, first, today's going to be a good day. You're going to start. Nothing weird's going to happen. Maybe I should start being nicer. Maybe my Siri's going to take over. We're all going to point to you, Jocelyn, when it happens. Something's going to happen. We're going to be like, okay, where's Jocelyn? I mean, it is true that, like, we all do kind of have this subconscious relationship with our technology. Like, whether it's AI, virtual assisting, like, there is that, like, underlying relationship. And I think it's also... Empathetic. Yes, exactly. Yes, we are. Like, we're humans. We try to form relationships with things, whether or not, like, we even realize it. And I think, like, you know, like, I don't know if you guys have ever done this, but, like, talking to Siri, or something like that. Because you just want to see, like, that reaction. Like, you want to see human qualities out, like, in things that aren't human. Yeah, going off of that. I'm trying to go back to what I said. Sorry. Go ahead. Oh, the newer feature on Snapchat. Sorry, I'm going very modern with this. But the new AI on Snapchat, you can have full-on conversations and, like, I don't get it. I don't use it. I've accidentally had it. I've accidentally, like, Snapchatted it once. I was like, I like your glasses. And I was like, I don't like you. There are people, I feel, that will go out there and use that as, like, someone to talk to and whatnot. Because we view that as, like, oh, you can, like, something or someone is talking back to you, even if it's not, like, a real person and it's just an AI. But I feel like there's that sort of connection there that, oh, this person is always going to be there, you know. Because you're never 100% sure if someone is going to stay in your life forever. But now that we have AI, we know that AI is not going to go anywhere. AI is here, and it's here to stay, whether we like it or not. But I feel like we start to make those connections because we understand this is going to be with us for a while. I might as well use it as a resource that I have and whatnot. And, like, specifically with that Snapchat AI, like, you got to personally design what you wanted it to look like. Like, you have to give it a personality. And, like, that was so weird to me. I think I made mine look, like, crazy. Like, I think she has, like, pink hair, like a bright orange shirt on because I, like, didn't want to feel comfortable talking to her. Like, I didn't want to talk to her. I think it goes back to what I was saying earlier about how humans are constantly looking for an explanation for something that we cannot make sense of with our five senses. You know, that's why so many people go to religion. You know, we're constantly seeking comfort for the unknown. And I think, you know, the Snapchat AI might be providing that to some people. I don't totally think that's a great idea. Like, I really don't know. But, again, it's that we don't know what to make of things. And there are things out there that are able to give us comfort or, like, some kind of answer that we're, like, allowing it. But, again, it goes back to who's making the rules about this. When is it too far? When is it too much? No, exactly. And, like, it's so true. And the other thing is, too, I feel like humans, you know, a lot of humans do go to religion to try to, like, find out, you know, why. Like, why am I here? Like, who created me? And if you have, like, religious beliefs, like, you know, like that's wonderful if you have a belief system. I mean, obviously not all humans have that. So there is that kind of question of why am I here? Like, who put me here? But imagine how A.M. would feel because he was created by humans. And some humans don't even really know who created them. Like, is there, like, a higher being? Like, so imagine, like, I know A.M. really doesn't have emotions, but he does have anger. Imagine how angry that would be. It's a big cycle of unknowns. Yes. And nobody knows. I mean, we don't even know what to do with them. Nobody knows. Like, a lot of, like, Greek mythology is, like, assigning gods to things that they couldn't understand. So, like, major weather events, like, crops growing. Like, they assigned a deity to it because it was something they couldn't understand. And it, like, helped us feel like a part of the world without having to, like, be in complete control of the world. But, like, A.M. knows everything about its creators. It, like, it knows everything. It knows why different weather events happen. And it can see the fallacies in its creators. And I feel like if we were to, like, look at a god, and, like, he's in cargo pants and, like, a Hawaiian t-shirt, and, like, we are looking face-to-face at a creation, we'd be like, this is it. Like, this is what we've been, like, worshipping or, like, something like that. So I feel like him knowing exactly who created him and how much power it has is also, like, not a comforting thing. Also, but if Jimmy Buffett made me, I don't think I would be mad. So, I think A.M. needs to get over himself. Okay, well, that's specifically on Wendy. I think A.M. needs to get over himself. Five o'clock somewhere. And I'm always saying that. That it's five o'clock somewhere. Yeah. Well, A.M. also keeps track of the time and he's like, yo, like, this is how much time has passed of me making you miserable. Yeah. And it's, like, not fun to, like, think about how much time's passed or especially, like, especially when you don't have constant time or, like, if you're in a really bad situation like the people in this book. And you don't know how long you've been tortured for. And it's, like, the people in the Black Mirror episode where they don't know how long they've been digitally tortured for. It's, like, kind of, like, a weird time warp of, like, not knowing how much time you have left. Like, when is it going to end? Yeah, and we have no, like, true concept of time. Yeah. Like, you know, for some people, a lot can happen in the span of three months and three months can feel like three years. And for other people, total opposite. No, it's so true. I mean, even, like, the way that... It's so subjective. So I feel like it's very vindictive. I was just thinking even, like, the way that, like, we count our years in the beginning. Like, the way that, like, the calendar is developed now is when Jesus was born. So it was year zero. And that is, like, a religious figure for many people. I mean, even if you don't, even if you're not Christian, like, even if you don't believe in Jesus, like, that's the way that our calendar is set up. And I know that they have changed, like, you know, it used to be A.C., which is after Christ, and now it's, like, C.E., so, like, Common Era for those who aren't religious. But it's still the same way that time is being counted. It's looking to that, like, higher power. Yeah. It's like in North Korea, their calendar is based off of when Kim Jong-il was, or Kim Il-sung, which is, like, Kim Jong-un's, the current leader's, like, great-grandfather or father is when they were born. And, like, that was year zero. And I think it was, like, 1950-something. Oh, wow. So they're on, like, what, 80s time? Yeah. They're all in the 80s. Nirvana just arrived on the scene for them. But I think it's just, like, this interesting time, like, concept of time. Like, it's literally constructed by people who decided one day, this is going to be, like, our day. And, like, how it doesn't even add up. That's why we have leap years and, like, all that stuff, because it doesn't even add up to perfect 365, 24 hours a day. Wow. There is this one quote that stuck out to me. I tend to keep writing stories that piss people off, that tell the particular kind of truth I think is valid, that will make me feel more and more like the writer of Statue, which, honestly, I think I am. Really, I mean it. I don't doubt for one second, damn it, so stop giggling, which I think the part that stuck out to me the most was, I tend to keep writing stories that piss people off, just because I feel like now more than ever, like, that's very prevalent, and especially, like, how we kind of talked about with Fahrenheit 451, or we can look at Orwell. And I think just a lot of times, even though a lot of these authors are writing it, like, very long time ago, not knowing where, like, the world would go. I just, the first part of that stuck to me. And, like, I think that idea of, like, art is supposed to make you feel something is important. And, like, specifically with Fahrenheit 451, there's, it's, like, society has sped up and is moving so fast, and, like, everyone wants everything, like, bam, bam, bam. Like, cars are so fast. People don't, like, have time to sit down and read. But then, like, also, their television is just kind of bland. Like, it's not really telling a story. It's just, like, the main character's wife talks about, like, the family that, like, is in, or, like, on her TVs, and, like, in the room where they have the TVs, it takes up all four of the walls. So she's constantly surrounded, like, by her, quote, unquote, family. But there's not really, like, a story or a plot to any of them. They're just, like, like, going about regular days. So there's no, she, the wife is not being, like, like, pushed outside of her comfort zone. She's not learning anything. She's just sitting in a room completely surrounded by screens. And it's, like, made her completely numb to everything around her. The idea that if you're not being challenged, like, your brain isn't doing any work. Yeah. Oh, that's true. That's so true. And I feel like A.M. kind of took it upon himself to challenge himself, almost, and find a way to, like, torture these people. Yes. Like, just, you know, keeping them alive for eternity, just because what else is he supposed to do? He's literally, like, he's a computer. Do you think that A.M. is, like, scared of being alone? Like, do you think that that's why he keeps five people alive? I think he has no reason to live if he doesn't have people to torture. Yeah. But I think being alone is scary. And I think even if it's subconscious or I just want people to torture, even though he's a computer, I think that there's that, like, need for, like, human connection. He's a computer. Like, is he being entertained by these people? I think to an extent. Okay. Like, you wouldn't – it's like the scene from The Gladiator. They're like, are you not entertained? I don't know. I think he doesn't. That's his own, like, sick form of entertainment. But I also think, again, without the people, A.M. wouldn't exist. So if he had no people, he would just be floating in wherever in space, angry, having eternal suffering for himself. Like, why not take some people down with him? He'd rather torture other people than be tortured. My last question, I guess, to wrap it all together, what do we think Harlan Edison's purpose was for writing this piece? And how did we feel about this piece personally? I think it definitely served as a cautionary tale, you know, because after World War II, you know, that was, like, a lot of new technology introduced into warfare and things like that. I think it definitely was, like, a cautionary tale of, like, hey, like, tech is really going to start – like, we're doing things with technology. Like, we need to be aware of it. As for how I feel about the story, it made me, like, really uncomfortable and scared. Like, I was deeply moved by it and not, like, in a great way, but it still was very, like, thought-provoking. Like, the last comment I left on the very last page was, like, that's okay. I didn't need my sanity anyways. Like, I had to, like – I finished reading it and just kind of, like, stared at a wall for a few minutes and was, like, this is so much to think about. That was so – People don't, like – no, people don't like to think about, like, technology taking over. Like, they don't like thinking about it and talking about it because it makes them uncomfortable, and it's, like, it should, so we should do something. Yeah. Like, it's a very useful story, but I feel like you need to be prepared before you read it. I think that you really – you need to prepare yourself before you read a story like this because it is one of those thought-provoking stories. It's supposed to make you uncomfortable. You're not supposed to feel like, oh, I'm amazing after reading it because it's a thing that, I mean, hypothetically could happen because we don't know what's coming in the future. No one does. Right. Like, it's not supposed to be your favorite story to read, but it's still – like, you should still be reading it and thinking about it. That's not a story that you can't talk about after. Like, you have to have a conversation after it. Yeah. I think to circle back to the last thing Ashton just said, like, it's a story you have to read. I think that kind of circles back to our discussion of, like, education is a privilege and, like, ignorance is bliss. Like, this is when I think, like, it serves a purpose. It's not just supposed to be, like, a funny little, like, what if story. Like, he saw a problem in society and was like, no, like, this is going to get worse. It's like a cautionary tale. And I think these, especially, like, stories involving technology, I think definitely sends, like, a bigger message and is very important to be aware. Yeah. I agree with all of what you guys said. After discussing who Harlan was as a person and just looking deeper into the other types of stories and books and other, like, casts and whatnot and movies and all of that that he was in and stuff like that, I definitely feel like he created this story as, like, to make people uncomfortable and fear what could happen, but also fear the unknown of if that's going to happen. And I feel like that's a very important thing that should be talked about with stories like this. I feel like you can't just go into a story and be like, oh, well, I read it. I'm done now. Like, that's just not a thing that you can do because you're just going to sit there with all these ideas in your head, and then you have that fear of the unknown. Will this happen? Will this not happen? What will happen if it does happen, you know? And honestly, I feel like a lot of literature classes kind of have just, like, a list of books that you just kind of, like, check off. Like, you're like, I read that one. Okay, time to move on to the next one. But there's not as much of an emphasis on, okay, we've read this important book. Let's not cross it off yet. Let's discuss it. Let's be uncomfortable with it for a little bit so that we can try to understand it before we move on to another book. Like, we can't just, like, check these off of a bucket list. Yep. Reading and regurgitating. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I'm a hater. Yep. Same. Yay! Good luck. Good luck. Good luck. Good luck. Good luck.