Strip 5: Creationists

Since one of the aims of this comic is to present the argument that truly sentient machines can and should be considered psychologically equal to organics, this discussion of the creation myth is crucial. In our universe, matter cannot be created or destroyed, but life, on the other hand, is a state that must be created. Whether you believe that life stems from a higher power or whether it comes from natural processes, most people agree that consciousness has a definite beginning and, depending on who you talk to, a definite ending. Even though Dy-Gar and Roger disagree on who or what created them, there is no question that they were created by something. While one can argue that they were created artificially, like a cell phone or a car, they are still conscious. If a car crashes or a cell phone shatters on the floor, its matter is still intact, just rearranged. However, if Dy-Gar or Roger are, say, crushed by an ominous giant robot, their matter would still be intact but their consciousness would not.

Life is a tricky thing to define, but with Steel Salvation we hope to demonstrate that artificial life is at least as tricky and as worthy of debate as the natural kind. It can’t be dismissed just because it comes from circuitry and code instead of neurons and fatty brain tissue.

- J.S. Conner

January 29th 2015