before I begin I want to address those
who have clicked on this video that
might not have watched the original
ghost in the shell' aside from maybe
Akira ghost in the shell' is arguably
the most celebrated film in the realm of
Japanese anime and for good reason if
you have not seen it please stop this
video and go watch it not only is it
less than 90 minutes long it manages to
contain more spectacle and story in that
runtime then some franchise is doing an
entire series if it weren't for ghost in
the shell' there would have never been
movies like The Matrix or avatar or
games such as the hotly anticipated
cyberpunk 2077 hopefully these objective
realities are enough to convince you to
go watch it now to address those who
have seen ghost in the shell' I've
wanted to do a video on this movie for
about three years now I tend to refrain
from doing videos on popular franchises
unless I can provide an original
perspective thankfully I believe I can
offer some unique insight into this
property as I Rhian some of the film's
most profound moments I intend to shine
greater light on the mythological and
psychological subtext of these moments
while we will of course ruminate on the
questions this film asks I will also try
to determine where these questions came
from in the first place by tracing these
questions to their origin I intend to
enhance our collective understanding of
this film's themes and their
implications for our reality needless to
say there are spoilers ahead any
discussions surrounding ghost in the
shell' starts and ends with Motoko z'
identity crisis major Motoko Kusanagi is
a cyborg specifically constructed to
appear human to any superficial observer
this indistinguishability was achieved
to bia the scanning of real human body
parts by understanding how human body
parts function down to the molecular
level a perfect artificial copy could be
produced for example
Motoko x' brain is indistinguishable
a human brain on a purely functional
level with one major exception her brain
is augmented in such a way that she can
access digital networks through holes in
the back of her neck
allow the matrix aside from that Motoko
x' brain and other cyber brains like
hers are perfect copies of human brains
for anybody that has followed my channel
for the past year this concept might
seem familiar I did an analysis of two
different video games that both address
the human / robot dichotomy soma and the
Talos principle the stories of both
games question how special human
consciousness really is if theoretically
it can be reproduced with artificial
components this possibility of
replicating human consciousness
challenges the existence of what we tend
to call the soul the part of ourselves
that is supposed to confer our
transcendent value the part of us that
is supposed to live on after death the
possibility of the souls non-existence
or it's banality is a horror that both
games exploit ghost in the shell' takes
that existential horror and forces it
almost entirely upon the character of
Motoko the fact that her brain was
constructed by scanning a human brain
creates an endless stream of
philosophical questions most notably is
the question of whether or not Motoko is
her own person a true individual in the
world of the movie it is immediately
assumed that because the cyborg has no
link to the natural world it does not
actually have a soul or for the purposes
of this discussion a ghost any semblance
of a ghost that a cyborg might feel is
supposedly an illusion but is this true
well the film does not offer any
definitive answers but it certainly
offers its share of powerful arguments
in regards to the character of bateau he
perceives Motoko existential angst as
needless he seems to believe that if a
being has the ability to think the
ability to doubt then that should be
enough to put Motoko 'he's mind at ease
this echoes the famous philosophical
maxim of rene
cart I think therefore I am what this
means is that even if all other aspects
of one's life are an illusion the mere
ability to think is enough to indicate
that a person actually exists bateau
seems to think this goes from Motoko as
well even if her brain was copied from
someone else
the fact that she has the capacity to
think for herself is enough to confirm
her existence as a unique sentient being
the fact that she made her own choices
and can reflect on those choices as
memories should confirm her uniqueness
it's a decent argument but nonetheless
it's one that the film argues against
the most obvious challenge to the I
think therefore I am maxim comes at the
end of the diving scene while Motoko and
bateau are philosophizing on the nature
of being a voice that sounds very much
like Motoko x' begins to speak note that
these words weren't spoken out loud by
Motoko but I heard internally via the
network both of their cyber brains share
that's how then questions whether or not
Motoko said this herself but before she
can reply the film cuts to the next
scene what this scene suggests is the
possibility that the thought expressed
in the voice of Motoko did not come
about via her own choice rather the
thought came about itself this
challenges de cartes belief maybe it
isn't the person that actually thinks
maybe in fact it is something else
this critique of dick hearts' maxim is
not unique to ghost in the shell' in
fact it was made hundreds of years
earlier by the famous German philosopher
Friedrich Nietzsche in his masterwork
Beyond Good and Evil Nietzsche
indirectly challenges des cartes
immediate certainty that it is the
person the ego that thinks quote from
once did I get the notion of thinking
what gives me the right to speak of an
ego and even of an ego as cause and
finally of an ego as
of thought to use simpler terms
Nietzsche is suggesting one of two
things one instead of believing that a
person is responsible for thinking one
should assume instead that the mere act
of thinking is occurring without a
knowable cause to that the thought came
to a person from a different source this
belief was further expanded upon by
another famous thinker one who was
heavily influenced by Nietzsche Carl
Jung in his work titled structure and
dynamics of the psyche Jung says the
following
everyone knows nowadays that people have
complexes what is not so well known
though far more important theoretically
is that complexes can have us for those
of you that might be having trouble with
this concept think of it this way
imagine somebody betrays you in the most
devastating way and you have a desire to
seek revenge did you think up the idea
for revenge or did the idea for revenge
come to you as an instinct in other
words did you have the idea or did the
idea have you if it's the latter then
maybe your ability to think doesn't
necessarily confirm your individuality
maybe Descartes was wrong maybe the fact
that Motoko appears to be thinking isn't
enough to confirm her own existence as
an individual as somebody who has a
ghost this conundrum is expanded upon
with the issue of memories memories
supposedly confirm one's individuality
one's ghost the memories you have are
unique to you that came about via
experiences that are unique to your life
supposedly yet again this idea is
challenged not only by ghost in the
shell' but my many works that have come
before in the world of ghost in the
shell' the possibility of implanting
memories is real most notably in the
case of the garbage man his thoughts and
memories are not his they were implanted
by the villain known as the puppet
master before we continue let us take a
breath and summarize what has been
discussed so far the world of ghost in
the shell' offers a potential vision of
our
we're human brains can not only be
augmented
but replicated artificially the
possibility of augmenting and
replicating human brains introduces
terrifying possibilities not just for
the world of ghost in the shell' but our
reality namely the possibility that
things which are supposed to confirm the
existence of our souls our thoughts and
memories can be controlled and
manipulated the reason why the film is
presenting us with these frightening
possibilities is to force us to confront
the following uncomfortable truth if
artificial brains human brains and
augmented brains can have their thoughts
and memories manipulated the very things
that are supposed to make us who we are
then this suggests that the soul might
not exist at all or to use the words of
a fellow youtuber loco Steve there is no
ghost in the shell' the prejudice that
only humans can have Souls is just that
a prejudice we are very similar to these
fictional cyborgs not just in this way
but many others where robotic
consciousness is a series of zeros and
ones human consciousness is a series of
DNA strands where digital life grew out
of the sea of information known as the
Internet Allah the puppet master organic
life grew out of the oceans 4 billion
years ago the notion that the soul might
not actually exist can be upsetting to
some that we might not have this
transcendent special element in all of
us but keep in mind the film does offer
a potential solution to not just Motoko
existential anxiety but our own at the
end of the film
Motoko battles with a large Tachikawa
tank in an abandoned building during the
fight the gunfire from the tank damages
a mural on the wall the mural is a
depiction of the tree of life a
religious symbol that spans across many
cultures as pointed out by another
youtuber named anim every day in his
video titled Pinocchio's dilemma the
damaging of the Tree of Life is symbolic
of life moving on from evolution into a
higher level of existence in the sea of
information
the higher-level he refers to is the
solution to Monaco's existential anxiety
by merging her consciousness with that
of the puppet master
they will birth the seed that will give
rise to a higher consciousness one that
is neither purely human or digital but a
combination of the two
while one will rightly see the atheistic
symbolism in the movie for example with
the shooting of the Tree of Life and the
arguments against the ghost concept
there is also a certain respect given to
religious tradition I would like to cite
the work of Eric Newman a scholar of
psychology and religion in his book
titled the origins and history of
consciousness oilmen notes how a living
being achieves higher levels of
consciousness quote to discriminate to
distinguish to mark off to isolate
oneself from the surrounding context
these are the basic acts of
consciousness in other words it is only
by questioning what came before by
challenging the established order that
something new may follow
for example if God never said let there
be light in the judeo-christian
tradition all that would exist is
chaotic nothingness or as the ancient
Greeks called it the Ouroboros
if the Babylonian God Marduk never
killed the goddess of primordial chaos
Tiamat then he would have not created
the heavens in the earth from her body
the shooting of the tree represents
Motoko and the puppetmaster isolating
themselves from the normal processes of
evolution and creating a higher state of
being so what is this higher state of
being in alchemical tradition it is from
the conflicting of light and darkness
the most ancient of opposite elements
that all creation followed in the mind
of the alchemists the affer mentioned
Jung and many religions the central goal
of life is to bring all opposite
elements without and within
into a perfect balanced union this union
is symbolized in many ways but in
regards to ghost in the shell' this
union is symbolized by the Tree of Life
as well as the merge between Motoko and
the puppetmaster according to makea le
ad and Gilbert Durand the tree is a
symbol of the totality of the cosmos in
its genesis and it's becoming the union
of opposites the synthesis of the sexes
the merging of Motoko and the
puppetmaster symbolizes this perfect
union of opposites between man and woman
hero and villain body and mind natural
and artificial but most importantly man
and machine the inevitability of mankind
merging with machines is inescapable it
is the next stage it is the meaning that
will sustain us as we evolve beyond our
pious and primordial pasts as for what
this perfect union this higher state of
consciousness would look like to
somebody like you or I it's impossible
to say it is not something that a
limited mind can proceed even at the end
of the movie when Motoko is in her new
body we are not privy as to what the
effects of the merge were the only
transcendent thing we see is what Motoko
sees when the merge begins like all
religions divine concepts that can't be
understood by mortals are presented
symbolically and arguably the most
universal representation of a
transcendent being is an angel thank you
so much for watching and thank you to
everybody else who helped me edit this
script if you like this video make sure
to give it a like or share it with a
fellow fan of ghost in the shell' that
helps me out more than you might realize
by the way if there is something about
ghost in the shell' that I fail to
address I encourage you to check out one
of the videos I linked in the
description box below
all of them are wonderfully done not
just in terms of the research that went
into them but also for how they
celebrate the profundity of this movie
and the franchise
you