Sempere

He’s referring to the fact Doctor Strange is currently dead in the MCU.

Hey Rian, Thanks for doing this AMA!

1.) What is your writing process like? (Inspiration, influences, Initial Draft, Revisions, etc.)

2.) What do you think is essential for your characters to feel authentic and fleshed out?

3.) Did you make Bruce Willis quote Die Hard or ask JGL about Dark Knight Rises?

4.) Did you ever consider a different career path aside from writing/direction films? If so, what was it?

Been a big fan since Brick. When I read Looper, there was a moment where I teared up a little. Bought my tickets for friday.

Until then - I'll be in Boston. Drinking.

Will it be called Scrolli(ng) in english?

That's actually a really interesting question - assuming that you mean "Are we [dealing with a human being when dealing with the Machine]?" And given what you and the writing staff have presented, I think that it can be rationalized out.

When we look at humans objectively, we wonder about the human experience - we have an external and internal life in that we can influence our surroundings while also (typically) experience an emotional reaction to the external world. We require feeling, perception, and the means of influencing our surroundings (a body). One of the key features of the human experience though (which I've noticed in your feature writing) is the drive to survive/survival instinct - ultimately, to find a way to keep going.

So taking these parameters and applying them to the Machine, we see that it exhibits a few of them in unconventional ways. We know that it can perceive the world around it (through probability of violent occurrence, observation, pattern, etc). It has a means of influencing the real world by proxy: Finch, Reese, Carter, Fusco - as well as Shaw and Root. While the Machine clearly doesn't have the conventional body, the case could be made that as an artificial intelligence, it still has the capacity to mirror human behavior through an internal emotional life. Now, we've seen the Machine's perspective but we haven't actually seen it display emotions or even a capacity for them. It imprints on Finch, Root (and even John I suspect given how the finale ended) and protects them - as a means of protecting itself. When it started protecting Finch, Finch was the only one who knew of its existence and was still tinkering with it. While Finch interprets this as being similar to that of a child, it's just another form of the survival mechanism: even going so far as to find Finch a compatible partner in Grace to ensure his psychological well being/protection in the hopes of extending Finch's life - and by extension its own existence (esp. given the use of the question 'Can You Hear Me?' - that's what is most telling since the Machine would know if a telephone is working). It seems to imprint onto people who can help further its own survival and develop in some way. That opens the door for all sorts of wonderful implications, but ultimately the fight to survive, while at once an incredibly human trait, is one that can be derived from its code. If you look at the Machine through the lens of a typical human being, the Machine would fall short regardless of the Turing test...however, if you were to look at it through the eyes of someone with an atypical point of view (Shaw/a sociopath/psychopath) you might have a much harder time telling the difference.

That's a lot of conjecture and rambling, but I love how the show actually makes you think about it. That's part of the reason I'm entering next year's WB Writer's Workshop with a POI spec. I wish I had known about this AMA when it was happening, I would have sat down to ask you and Greg some questions.

Gotta find that sweet spot. Too soon, your palate will be peeling for days. Too late, it's cold. Which isn't bad...but there is a sweet spot. It's mythical, but if you believe you might be able to find it.