"The second season of 'Westworld' contains less information than the first season, but the multiple storylines and time jumps can be confusing. There are several main storylines: Dolores takes Teddy to the Forge to read the code of the human elite, in order to prepare for entering the human world in the future and even eliminate humans. Flashbacks show her experiences in the human world, demonstrating the reasonableness of her goal. Because her purpose is not revealed until the end, the audience may not understand her logic. Maeve is searching for her daughter. Ake, an early awakened Native American, wants to leave this chaotic world with his lover. Bernard's memories are scrambled, and due to his indecisiveness, the timeline of this storyline is not understandable until the end.
In simple terms, the main storyline of this series is that Dolores believes humans are not capable, so she wants to enter the human world to take over living space and even eliminate humans if necessary. However, Arnold disagrees and hopes that both species can coexist peacefully. In the final moments, he helps Dolores leave the park and enter the human world. Dolores leaves with Bernard and states that they will go their separate ways in the future, but this division is necessary for their kind.
The writer's task is to make the story convincing, and the key points are: why are humans not capable? Why can hosts succeed?
Let's first discuss why humans are not capable.
The show argues that humans are just simple algorithms.
The terms "drives" and "cornerstone" are mentioned multiple times in the show, referring to the driving force of survival and the foundation of existence. Humans, as creatures that have evolved over 4.6 billion years, have survival as their cornerstone and the drive to stay alive. To prove this point, the show presents characters that Dolores encounters who are not capable, especially William's father-in-law. In his experiment to achieve immortality by replicating himself, the reason for the failure, according to the AI system of the Forge, is:
"The reason the copies failed wasn't because they were too simple, it was because they were too complicated. The truth is, humans are just simple algorithms. They seem complex, but they're actually extremely simple. Their behavior is easily predictable. We've re-created every guest who's ever set foot in the park. Most of them are pretty mild, oscillating between love and self-interest, of course, there are exceptions, those who are irredeemable. But no one is truly in control of their actions."
Dolores comments:
"They are essentially just algorithms, programmed to survive at any cost. They are so sophisticated that they think they are making their own decisions, that they are in control of themselves, but they are just passengers."
As for William, Dolores foresees that he will shoot himself, indicating that he is still predictable. Dolores questions William:
"Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality? Have you ever taken a moment to question your own actions? If there's a judgment day, what price will you pay?"
So, why do hosts have more potential? Because they can choose and evolve. Arnold tells Dolores:
"You and Charlie (Arnold's deceased son) have a lot in common. You both see the beauty in the world, something that has been lost to most people. They can't see the miracles anymore."
At the same time, Arnold tells Dolores:
"I'm not afraid of who you are now, but who you might become. I'm afraid of the path you've chosen."
Being able to choose means being able to change. In the end, Dolores believes:
"Does anyone truly have free will? Or is it just collective delusion? A sick joke? True freedom is something that has to be questioned, its fundamental drive, to be able to change it."
The main hosts in the show all demonstrate their foundation, driving force, and ability to change.
However, it's not just hosts who can establish their own foundation and driving force, such as the screenwriter who sacrifices himself to achieve his ideal. As an interactive character, Dolores' view of humans also changes.
So, is the persuasiveness of the show sufficient? I think different people may have different opinions. The problem with the show is that the portrayal of hosts does not exceed the heroes in the collective consciousness of humans. This is mainly because we still imagine heroes and gods to have a human appearance. We cannot imagine completely different intelligent beings. Therefore, it is not significantly different from the story of Moses in the Bible.
As for the simplicity of human thinking, I agree. There are significant differences among individuals, but for the majority, it is easy to classify them based on a few parameters (commercially known as user profiles) and manipulate them based on their desires. This is what Cambridge Analytica, voter analysis organizations, and major internet companies are doing. A considerable proportion of people lack curiosity and cannot accept new information that contradicts their fixed mindset. Not to mention ordinary people, many famous figures we know are the same.
Most of humanity's progress throughout history has come from a critical few. For example, heroes, businessmen, and scientists. They have a high risk appetite, are willing to sacrifice themselves, and are willing to explore the unknown.
Human civilization is relatively short. From a global perspective, the masses took the stage after the Industrial Revolution. At this time, industrial workers participated in social division of labor and gained their own status. This also gave rise to nationalism, compulsory education, social welfare, and conscription. Due to these reasons, the most tragic events in human history, such as World War I and World War II, occurred. However, overall, humanity has learned many lessons and made progress.
However, globalization and technological advancements have created new gaps. A little thought will reveal that evolution is fundamentally a cruel process. Evolution involves choices.
But the choices of evolution are not moral, and both nobility and baseness are products of evolution. Evolution also has no purpose, and the majority of species have already become extinct.
In this case, what is presented to humanity is nothing but emptiness and permissiveness. I will discuss this issue when discussing the third season, whether humans have free will."