Telling is Listening

In the article "Telling is Listening: Ursula K. Le Guin on the Magic of Real Human Conversation," the author stressed the importance of real human communication and the methods of how conversation is received by other humans. However, when I was reading Le Guin's analogy about the two boxes, Box A and Box B, I couldn't help but make connections to the HBO series "Westworld." In Le Guin's analogy, she states that communication between the two boxes are connected by a transmitter. When Box A sends a message, it must carefully code the information so the transmitter may act as a medium to carry the message to Box B. On the other end, Box B is programmed to receive and decode the message. While Box A and Box B are meant to symbolize human consciousness and the ability to code and decode verbal or nonverbal messages, Le Guin also states that one box could symbolize a human and the other a computer. Later in the article, Le Guin also relates communication to sex between amoebas -- each unicellular organism is able to swap internal genetic information with another amoeba, unlike human reproduction, a one-way system. This relates back to the example of human consciousness versus a computer, which brings me back to my connection of this to "Westworld." In the series, communication is pre-programmed for the Hosts (Hosts in the show are essentially "robots" controlled by artificial intelligence). The Hosts are shown to be inferior to the Guests (human visitors to the park) because they are programmed to be at the disposal of the Guests. However, although the Hosts are programmed to give and receive information in specific ways, therefore following specific patterns in their day-to-day lives. This reveals how the Hosts and Guests are not much different in the way each functions. This reminds me, like the article did, the importance of genuine human conversation and connection. Furthermore, it brought to light how the way communication is received and deciphered by another determines consciousness and humanity.