New Meaning of Mind and Memory: Comparison of Science-Fiction Films and Today

As a film genre, Science-Fiction (SF) is unique with its predictions about the future. Especially, the relation of technology and human in the future is one of the main themes of SF films. SF films bring us the ideas to discuss how human body and identity will or might be affected by technology and machines. As a group of films describe the human and technology relation positively, another group of films draws a dystopian future of the relation. These both groups of films use human body and identity as surfaces to emphasize their predictions and considering these surfaces, mind and memory are the ones which come forward as the parts of human identity affected by technology. Therefore, this paper aims to understand how the prediction of SF films about mind and memory alteration by technology has been actualized. For this reason, chosen SF films by purposive sampling (Brazil, Colossus: the Forbin Project, Johnny Mnemonic, Minority Report, Sleep Dealer) are analyzed using qualitative film analysis and the results of the analysis are used for comparative analysis which includes films’ and today’s worlds on mind/memory and technology relation. As a result, the paper suggests that today’s human memory and mind alters to what SF films estimate, emphasizing the alteration is not complete yet, however, it breathes down the future’s neck.


I. INTRODUCTION
Memory is the storage and the mind is thinking ability of the brain; as we do not see their physical existence, we just believe that, we have both of them inside of our brain. Therefore, it is difficult to divide both notions to relate with the body and identity, moreover, today, it has become more complicated to make distinctive definitions about mind and memory's homeland. Obviously, what one experiences physically, mentally and psychologically; the brain is affected, so mind and memory are affected too. In this regard, it is possible to say the affection of the identity is inevitable situation of alteration. On the other hand, for today, reasons of the complication that I have mentioned are that, the first, there are new concepts of mind and memory which are not inside of human identity or brain. These new concepts are invented by technology imitating and storing the organic ones from the human, and with this; mind and memory have been more important for the human to compete with the technological memory and the mind since there has been Manuscript received February 9, 2015; revised July 2, 2015. machines with better and larger mind and memory. The second, human mind, also the memory, is extracted from the body; they have become the concepts which are represented with the different approaches than the body. It is considered that; for the first reason, computer and flash memories, hard disks and the Internet as a mass storage place; for the second reason, Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a virtual mind is a developing technology which has become an alternative version of the human brain. Furthermore, not only it has become alternative one, when AI has been founded, there has been the possibility of considering the body and the mind as separated concepts. Evidently, with AI, it has been tried to build a mind without body, a mind which imitates biological "higher" functions of the human mind, distracting body and mind relation [1]. Additionally, the new concept of memory and AI have become popular topics of Science-Fiction (SF) cinema to emphasize the competition between human and machines, because the mind, intelligence and memory has been always considered as the unique concepts which differentiate human from the other existence. If the machines are improved as artificial entity which can think, memorize and even create / produce, to predict a future that artificial and natural ones will encounter is very reasonable as well as SF cinema has ability to design possible future. Similar with the division of body and mind in the post-industrial period, Bukatman emphasizes for SF that "the duality between mind and body is superseded in a new formation that presents the mind as itself embodied" and the body exists just for its phenomenon; perceiving and moving, therefore the mind has become independent out of the boundaries of the body and the computer as a machine has important role to release the mind from monopolized surface of the body [2]. This is why on every machine figure in SF cinema has a computerized mind and it also proves that the computer technology separates the mind from the body, making it artificial. There is no need to have body to have a mind. Thus, in this paper, considering the representation of artificial and natural mind and memory of the body in SF cinema, I will discuss the effects of machine memories and AI on human body with the effects on identity in today.

II. MIND IS SEPARATED
Andy Clark defines human mind as physical organ but he also emphasizes "it cannot be seen as bound and restricted by the biological skinbag" and he claims "the mind is just less and less in the head" [3]. Historically, technology of writing might be one of the first examples for the intelligently separation of mind and body [1] and also it might the first time that mind expresses itself through the body, maybe after the language as a technology. Hans Moravec points the time of invention of practical calculating machines as the time to "artificially duplicate some small but vexing functions of the human mind" [4]. Further, since AI has been founded, the mind has found different ways to be represented other than human body. For this reason, it has been realized that the mind can be apart from the body and it can exist on its own. However, if mind operates separated from the body, it would require modifications [4], at this point, first of all, mind needs to be disembodied. As this new "disembodied mind" devaluates the body, also disunites the individual with the human mind. For this matter, Fortunati claims that the relationship between the body and mind has sadomasochistic relation; the body is masochist and the mind is sadist pole emphasizing "the mind, in the form of artificial intelligence, has shown that it can live without the body and allows itself the right to do what it likes with the body". Moreover, the mind is the one which appeals to expose body with any kind of technological invasion; such as the plastic surgery, buttocks and implantations [1], therefore, also the mind and body relation of today's human is devaluated too.
For instance, in Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985), Mrs. Ida Lowry, mother of the protagonist Sam Lowry, has plastic surgery, generally face lifting during the movie and her body suffers from the surgeries, and at the end she almost has younger body than her son. Besides, Mrs. Lowry's friend Mrs. Alma Terrain has the similar plastic surgeries, but she dies and her body becomes a rotten corpse. Both women's bodies have been suffered what their mind decide and it also might be the result of the technological developments of the culture and artificial environment of society, and this new culture and environments exposes their mind what people should or can do on their bodies. It also refers to another separation which is claimed by Fortunati [1] that; mind as the culture and body as the nature. I mean, if culture is a notion in the mind, and the body is the part of the nature, evidently, as our nature is affected by our culture, the mind; as cultural perceiver affects the body. It is also the result of technological invasion in the post-industrial area which partly consists of the reconstruction of human as a notion and as an existence in the light of juxtaposition of machine and human. In addition Vivian Sobchack [5] claims "the postmodern logic as a function and effect of social existence in a culture that has become increasingly mediated, decentered, and dispersed". Therefore, as Mrs. Lowry and Mrs. Alma Terrain have been affected by the cultural results of post-modern logic, through their mind, their bodies are remediated by the technology, the culture of technology. Certainly, this is what happens to human today in the culture of increasing technology and inside the body that has the mind which is alternated by the artificial one.
As the mind is a space of human memory, it is related with the environment that we live. Michael Benedikt mentions space is all around us, there and here, it is substantial and invisible penetrating us; it alternates our minds "between the analyzable and the absolutely given [6]. Related to Benedikt's idea about the space and mind relation, Fortunati expands the theory to the male / female and (so called) the West / the Third World relation attributing the new relation of body and mind. This theory is deeply related with the opportunities that technology provides to human; making body and mind connect and communicate each other from the long distances or in artificial spaces, therefore this theory is important for the reason that there are mutual consequences in non-fictional and fictional world. Certainly, in the post-industrial term, the body has been the symbol of labor and work, and the mind has been related with "the power of decision and command"; in other words, the body is "worker" and the mind is "boss" considering the class relation of the post-industrial society [1]. In addition, for the same matter, Elaine Graham expands the idea for the first-world citizensgenerally West-saying "digital and biotechnological developments bring with them an expansion of selfhood beyond the limits imposed by finite bodies and minds … the wealth of Western cyborgs rests on the cheap labor of their third-world sweatshop fellows" [7].
Today, many technological devices are invented in the First World countries, but they are generally produced in the Third World countries, or in the countries which the labor power is cheaper. As an illustration, Finnish Nokia phones (recently the company bought by Microsoft) are not only produced in Finland, there are factories of Nokia in Brazil, Romania, Hungary, India, China, South Korea and Mexico. Similarly, the most of Apple products are produced in China by Taiwanese Foxconn Manufacturing Company for cheaper cost of manufacture; for this reason; it is written on many Apple products that "Designed in California. Made in China." Here, "design" symbolizes the mind and "made" symbolizes the body work; maybe China is not the Third World country but, obviously labor (body work) is cheaper there, so it is the place of body workers. In this production circle of technology, technology itself as a connector has a significant role providing the information and communication transfer between these countries, so the between the separated mind and body.
The movie Sleep Dealer (Alex Rivera, 2008) looks to this situation from more science-fictional point of view moving the separated body and mind that I have mentioned to the future; and in more developed and "techno-sized" future. The movie emphasizes the placement of body and mind in the specific conditions breaking the boundaries between mind and body in geographical distances. The main character Memo is implanted "nods" on his body illegally and he works in a factory in Mexico as the controller of construction machine in U.S.A., connecting to AI machine through his nods (Fig. 1). In this situation, his body stays in Mexico as the worker, and his mind works for the First World country. This means that his body is just needed as a worker in the First World country, he does not need to go there but his body from Mexico must work for his labor. Further, the mind is there in the U.S.A. as a machine, using his body as a physical power, he is needed for his body and probably he will never go to the U.S.A. to see what he produced with his body, because it is believed that the mind of architecture and the machines produced, his body is just a tool to reach the object, the result. Maybe this is the story of future (far or near) but it is not much different than today since one works in the factory in any the Third World country, and one does not have possibility to see usage of the product or to use the product that he/she has produced, because the produced items go back to the country of mind which invents the technology. Therefore, mind and body is divided like that with the "opportunities" of technology and AI technology is the one affect this division. Further, it is obviously the result of artificial mind and mechanized body as the specific technologies of post-industrial term. At this point, the body has become something more about physical labor; in addition, labor is redefined when body and mind are separated. Besides the physical labor of the body, the divided mind has labor too but the labor of the mind is maintained electronically in terms of social control, organization, management, communication as an intellectual object [8]. Therefore, the body which has lost its mind has become more depended to other technological devices to improve itself to have better value against the intellectual labor of mind of the machine. As Memo needs the nods on his body to work in possible future; today, maybe not nods but we need to adapt our body functions for working and earning; therefore the body without mind has been obliged to be equipped with the machines. Besides, through the sadomasochistic relation of mind and body in terms of boss and worker approach; the master and slave relationship between human and machine is reconstructed. When the human had been master, and the machine had been slave in the beginning, with AI, the machine has gone one step forward than human; being a mind without body, therefore, the human has also the slave role in the place of worker. The SF film; Colossus: the Forbin Project (Joseph Sargent, 1970) emphasizes how an artificially intelligent computer can improve itself and turns to a master from a slave.
Actually, as a project, Colossus refers to the halfprogrammable computer which was made by British government to break the code of encoded German messages in the World War II, but the Colossus in the movie is more improved one which can recognize the voice, answer the questions and control the defense system of U.S.A. After the computer is switched on; instead of being controlled by people, it communicates with another artificially intelligent computer, Guardian for the Soviet defense system and the both computers have become a threat for the world when they menace the both countries about nuclear bombing. Therefore, people have to do what Colossus says, people have to listen him to survive because artificial mind beats the natural one. Today, we are no threatened by AI yet but, surely, we listen them when our intelligence is not enough. For instance, GPS machines find the shortest road and direct us, the computers tell us how we should use them, automatic pilot pilots the plane, security systems secure us better than ourselves and if we go back to past, there have been calculators which work faster than us; and all these machines and system just work with a mind without body, better mind with zero body and when they are in progress, our mind is useless somehow.

III. REDEFINED MEMORY
When we discuss the redefined mind of techno-human, evidently, it is necessary to discuss storage space of the mind; the memory. Memory is not static; its dynamic movement "cannot be clearly situated within space and time, although it can be said to produce space-times", further, "memory does not happen to a body, it subsists throughout it" [9]. For the reason that when the mind is redefined separated from the body, it also has include the new memory which is defined physically because human memory has always been considered as a notion which cannot be seen physically; it is formed of experiences of human. However, the new memory; machine memory might be calculated with numbers; bytes in computing terminology. We have devices such as; hard disk, flash memory (or flash disk), storage devices, and the Internet as a network and system that stores globally in virtual space. With these devices, other than the memory of human, machine memory has become something more visible, reachable, common, countable and even portable carrying the physical memory inside such as; our writings, photos, videos, music and so on. Therefore, what we experienced and what we have in our memories, some parts of them might be seen on the machine memories. In addition, loading the some materials on to machine memory, the human memory has less "things" to store in it. Moreover, with storage devices, our body carry the external memory on it and today as the external memories are everywhere; in our mobile phones, mp3 players, digital cameras and computers and generally, today's human is obliged to use these memories for the reason that human memory does not work as fast as and cannot memorize the information as organized as the machine memory. In Johnny Mnemonic (Robert Longo, 1995), adapted by the short story of William Gibson, the protagonist with the same name of movie title works as a data courier with his "techno-sized" memory and he carries the data with the implanted memory inside his brain in the second decade of the 21 st Century. He has input port on his head and to carry more data. Johnny updates the capacity of his memory from 80 gigabytes (GB) to 160 GB; using an external update device connecting the device to his brain with a cable through the port. In addition, in the movie; memory and its capacity is represented as a body part which is "technosized" with the wet-wired brain implants; therefore, the memory has become the labor of data couriers to help them to transfer the important information from one place to another. Actually, we are already in the second decade of the 21 st Century, and there has not been any "technosized" memory implants to human brain yet, however, considering the numbers of GB in the movie, today, the memory of the machines is more advanced than the predictions of the movie. We already have up to 12 terabytes (TB) external hard drives in use, and every other day, the market of memory devices is developed. Therefore, the human brain and memory cannot easily compete with the limits of machines memory and it explains why Mnemonic needs updates and implants on his brain to store more data and similarly why we need flash memories to upload our any kind of information and data. Coincidentally, Johnny Mnemonic short story was adapted to the movie 14 years after it was written by William Gibson in 1981, and I think one of the reasons that take attention to the issue of artificial memory might be the studies which had been grown that time. For instance, in 1993, Thad Starner from MediaLab of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), invented a software which can increase human memory artificially during the everyday life as a wearable computer and it is called as the remembrance agent. The agent can create the connection between the database and the images that are transmitted by mobile video cameras and referring to this project Anna Poli emphasizes the new artificial memory as an effect toward the cyborg era and also the era of mechanically enhanced human being [10].
Besides, the mechanized memories are not only needed to be implanted to our body to change the definition of memory and not only the capacity is one thing which is different between machine and human memory. External flash and software memories (also including memory of the Internet) are more developed to reach the information. With the flash memories, in a second, it is possible to reach the data that we store, and it is obviously faster and more organized and real than the human memory. I mean, different than human memory, the machine memories are tactual; as it is touchable as an object, its inside is visible as a file and a document therefore it can be organized and even protected with a password. Actually, if Mnemonic does not have any machine memory implant inside his brain, we cannot see his memories and data that stored in his brain. However, machine technology allows others to see one's memory; the data inside of artificial memory can be seen by everyone, but our personal memories inside our organic brain can be seen just by our own.
Evidently, if one of the main differences of human and machine memory is sharing the visibility, photography might be the first technology as freezing of the moment and to store that moment's visual proof for a long time to share and make it visible for everyone. Thus, today's machine memory and also the implanted memory of Mnemonic is not so different than the idea of photography; as the data of moment has been stored in a photograph, we store the many data of our moments; plenty of photographs, videos, documents and such. In addition, the way of making the moment permanent, sharable, visible and transparent has become more important for the technology of actual life. For instance, in Minority Report (Steven Spielberg, 2002) memory is something which is transferable to the machine; as a video file, instead of a flash memory that we use today, the memory device is more different than today. In the film, memory devices look like a glass, and the memory already is visible when you look at the device. I think this situation is the visual comment of the film referring developing technologies in the beginning of the 21 st Century. In the area of artificial mind and memory for the reason that the technological devices have become thinner, lighter and more transparent each day, so the film's prediction for the future emphasizes the memory as a transparent as much as glass and stainless to become more visible.
In Sleep Dealer, the memory becomes important because it can be used an agent to earn money. For instance; the main female character Luz Martinez transfers her memories to the computer as video files and uploads them to the Internet to sell. People watch her memories' first part on the Internet and if they want to see more of her memories, they have to pay for watching. Therefore, her memory might be seen by someone who lives at another corner of the world. Today, we share our experiences and memories on the Internet with many people; uploading our videos, photos, writings and diaries; however we do not earn money yet and we do not use the nods or ports on our bodies to upload, but we use the body; our fingers for the mouse and keyboard. Furthermore, as I have mentioned all these new memory technologies make human memory more important and emptier at the same time. I mean, when we store the human memory in digitals way, it gets emptier but it is still important. For instance, the Internet works depending on the human memory in general; we have to memorize and remember every password of any kind of account on the any kind of web page to log in and then there are security questions to identify us if we forget the password. Actually, security is important on the Internet and this security is provided by our memories. For example; in Facebook, when we try to connect to our account from uncommon place, the security system asks us some questions to identify us if we are the real account owner. There are some options to identify us as a real owner and one of the options is to identify the photos of our Facebook friends. Facebook shows some photos and we try to know which friend of ours is in the photo. It is just a one example but Facebook is one of the popular web sites on the Internet and it is important that how the site keeps its security. In this situation, our memory is as important as our security on the Internet and it is necessary, and obviously if we have amnesia, all our information and accounts on the Internet is unreachable. Not only the Internet, other personal devices such as mobile phones, computers, mp3 players, televisions and such can be protected by the passwords/ locks, therefore the role of the memory has become more specific than the past. It is not only used to store memories and experiences; it stores the data; data of passwords, data of where and how many accounts we have on the Internet and evidently, being affected by the organization of the data on the devices and the Internet; living with these things; our memory is being organized like them each day too. Additionally, the movie Sleep Dealer (Alex Rivera, 2008) stands somewhere between Johnny Mnemonic and Minority Report about the issue of machine memory considering the improved technologies. In Sleep Dealer, human memory is transferable to the glassy computers plugging in the cable between machine and the body; and all daily experience can be transferred to the machine visually. Therefore, in Sleep Dealer, the human has implanted nods as Mnemonic has and memories in the transparent glasses as it happens in Minority Report.

IV. CONCLUSION
On the whole, the human memory has an alternative and improved one; the artificial/machine memory and both of them compete but also they are combined. The artificial memories are not commonly inside our body now but outside our body, we carry them and we load many of our information to them. Further, we need larger memories every other day, and we store many different items in our own minds and in our flash memories, and now we earn our lives as a teacher, a doctor or a police with what we have on our mind; then maybe in the future we will sell our memories or maybe we will load them to the shiny glass memory to make our memories emptier. However, from today, we already started to remember our memories as they are stored in the computer screen as files or as a folder that we just know how to reach it on our computers. Obviously, besides these common representations of the memory in the movies which I have mentioned, even the human memory needs to compete with machine memory and machine memory has become important in human life. The human memory has become also important for the reason that it is digitized, transferred and stored; in a sense the human memory has become valuable and all these technologies which are represented by the films. Further, today's technology is developed to reach the mystery of human memory or imitate it for the reasons that the things inside our memory; those are the things which make us human.