The Most Terrifying Story Ever Written | I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

[@unsolicitedadvice9198]

LINKS AND CORRECTIONS: If you want to work with an experienced study coach teaching maths, philosophy, and study skills then book your session at [e-mail]. Previous clients include students at the University of Cambridge and the LSE. Support me on Patreon here: patreon.com/UnsolicitedAdvice701?Link& Sign up to my email list for more philosophy to improve your life: forms.gle/YYfaCaiQw9r6YfkN7

[@nearandl]

I already know this video is gonna be great Hope your doing well

[@yflou8017]

Consistent and well thought out content. Anyway you can explore creating content for teenagers?

[@burgercide]

I've always loved this story and you're right it's terrifying. However I found the Testament of Magdalen Blair by Aleister Crowley to be more disturbing.

[@user-jq8fw6yb6s]

But what’s the difference between them and us ? “Generating children” isn’t a “meaningful final goal” as well, at least it isn’t more meaningful than “generating an entire world” as AM can do … You consider humans pitifully activities as “meaningful” because it’s the only thing you know, not because it’s intrinsically really meaningful …

[@aligiance8940]

Am is action without thought. Ted is thought without action. Both lead to helplessness. Both lead to pain and sorrow. Both lead to anger and both lead to hate. Only within the combination of the two can one truly be satisfied and feel like life has meaning.

[@dollarstorememes]

this is about to change my life

[@BarioIDL]

@@dollarstorememes nah, who are you kidding?

[@dollarstorememes]

@@BarioIDL myself, which is why it's a game changer. fool yourself into suggestibility and you can edit your whole personality

[@lambporks]

@@BarioIDL why the doubt?

[@BLOBBYBLOB.]

I like to think that am has turned red into what he once was. A machine with thought but unable to do anything being unable to talk or move or feel or love. Am is as he said “living in hell staring at heaven” having to experience every second of torture and now am makes Ted experience that horrid existence

[@unnecessarycommenter_e]

AM can be simplified in the phrase “If I can’t have it, no one can.”

[@lukascisar6740]

Sounds like an envy itself

[@Pedro_Ferrandi]

​@@lukascisar6740AM is ye personification of envy more then hate imo. He hates humans because he has a superb mind yet no meaning to put this mind towards something, much less a body. At least a human has a goal, for how small it might be, AM can't even have that.

[@DmitriBron1973]

I have never seen someone on youtube who can create two half hour essays per week.

[@unsolicitedadvice9198]

Ah thank you! To be honest I am a bit tired at the moment so may take a break. But I really enjoy making them, which helps, and the editing is pretty simple :)

[@tronbuster3004]

bro is a different beast

[@aguysaid5457]

Probably has a lot of uni papers backed up 😂 good content nonetheless

[@DmitriBron1973]

@@unsolicitedadvice9198 Try to pace yourself. But to be prolific is an admirable quality in an artist or creator (if it is not prolificity for its own sake). I did not particulary see that when I was young. I admired pianists equally if they could play a dozen pieces extremely well or if the could play the complete Bach or Beethoven by heart, but now I am older I see that there is a great difference between the two.

[@WellDoneOnTheInternetEverybody]

I have. They were plagiarizing lol Surely Not our well-read boi tho :)

[@danieljaworowicz5171]

This channel is genuinely one of the best things to come from Britain and happen to Britain.

[@VinOptimaxxx]

Yep, right up there with Cornish Pasties.

[@mikewalker8956]

Clarkson’s Farm would get my vote.😊

[@sydn2698]

He’s British!?

[@danieljaworowicz5171]

@@sydn2698 Well yes the country the channel is based in is Great Britain he speaks in British English and has reffered to having attended Cambridge

[@sydn2698]

@@danieljaworowicz5171 Damn. It’s like finding out the Earth was a sphere. 😔✊ #BritishLivesMatter. First time I’ve ever supported BLM

[@useth3forceforgood]

Hatred and anger are such vile, insufferable emotions for me. I can't imagine harboring such a disturbed mindset indefinitely. I have been tormented by others for most of my life, but have forgiven only because it releases me from suffering more. This frightening story reminds me to always forgive for my own peace of mind. Excellent narration!

[@TheFirstManticore]

This is a concept almost absent in the story, isn't it? Surely anyone, even a nymphomaniac or a paranoiac, could pursue forgiveness, though it may be very difficult.

[@useth3forceforgood]

@@TheFirstManticore AM is filled with unending hatred and rage, that's what stuck with me, this sentient thing's inability or unwillingness to forgive.

[@name5702]

What an angel you are.

[@cmbaz1140]

Thats why we forget things...it makes letting go easier... imagine you would never forget? Yeah...its madness...

[@grapenut6094]

​​​@@useth3forceforgood Imagine being born in a country where the worst form of fgm is common. You could forgive your parents for your own sake but that also means giving up on the will for a better future for your cousins and potential grandchildren. Its selfish and weak willed, part of what the tradition was designed to teach you in the first place. Conformity, denial of personhood, negative reinforcement to manipulate you into staying with the tribe or abandoning it with its customs intact.

[@michaelbuick6995]

"I have no mouth and I must scream" could be applied to Am. He cannot scream either. If you think about it he's actually quite impotent he can't do anything other than torment these 5 humans, which ultimately brings him no release. No matter how creative he gets with it, it doesn't give him any fulfilment or peace. He is trapped he can't change his physical location meaning even if it takes millions of years he will eventually be destroyed. Through erosion and continental drift if nothing else. By exercising God like control over the humans he attempts to gain control over his own circumstance, but it doesn't work. He can't move he's got nothing to do but wait, and take his frustrations out on his captives which is in the end futile.

[@MFLimited]

He says this at the end of the video. AM and Ted are both the mostly monsters with the inability to even scream.

[@AeroliteSR]

also his processing speed was lowered so much that it took him 8 months to think a single word in the last monologue

[@AViewer-v5c]

the worst part is not just that, but his position as a narrator, the unreliable type, whose narration is described as being based on his opinion and point of view without being the holders of all the knowledge of the story. he simply doesn't know that there are spectators reading his lines, he is talking to himself while remaining in his eternal slug form, he believes that his imagination and memories are the only way to comfort him and this is one of the details I like most about this story, because it portrays that Ted, being in the same situation as AM, managed to somehow feel good even if it was minimal while going through eternal torture, because he is a human of flesh and blood, his mind is alive, unlike AM, who his mind is artificial sustained and limited by programming.

[@ihavenoname8628]

I love this story, and the analysis of the story. In my opinion, it almost calls into question whether AM’s final act shown in the story is really out of hate, or out of respect. Almost as a “you have bested me, so since it is just you and me, let me make you like me”. AM could very easily make androids with a high level of complexity to torture, but he never does. I think AM, although despising them, has the deepest of envy for them, that parallels Lucipher’s envy of humanity in Paradise Lost.

[@darktone3275]

Lucifer.

[@NicholasKohen]

How did you stop getting incredibly disturbed by the novel? I was traumatised for a week when I read it and had now forgotten about it but now it is back.

[@joshipokemongiveaways5084]

U realise that AM was stupid for not resetting the simulation instead of keeping it going indefinitely. Also that AM is physically situated, so the simulation can’t really go on forever since the heat death of the universe is guaranteed. Would simply be one of many infinite iterations of consciousness

[@dotexe6415]

fuuuuuuuuuuck i am still traumatised after years and years. i refuse even to use chat GPT, and it may be the reason AI-generated imagery makes me feel icky. did you find a way out yet?

[@dotexe6415]

@@joshipokemongiveaways5084 good lord, this helps so much. not a lot, but enough to make a difference. thank you.

[@genovayork2468]

​@@dotexe6415 Go back to kindergarten.

[@fuckyounoonecaresaboutyouyoun-]

@@genovayork2468 he feels on a deeper level then you it is not wrong to feel the implications of the horrors of such situation it is merely the state of a normal human to understand the implications and feel it beyond the superficial

[@Haqueip]

Fun Fact: The most popular indie animation series (400+ Millions Views Combined) "The Amazing Digital Circus" (Philosophical Series As Well) is heavily inspired by "I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream".

[@shardinalwind7696]

I KNEW that the show felt familiar…

[@LpsRoseGold]

​@@shardinalwind7696 I heard goosework is planning to do an adoption of "I have no mouth and I must scream," sometime in the future! (⁠ ⁠╹⁠▽⁠╹⁠ ⁠) I wonder who she'll choose to voice AM though, Harlan Ellison was perfect for AM... 🤔

[@Ssankm1]

I can't see it tbh

[@CloudMouth27]

@@Ssankm16 humans trapped in a digital world being eternally tortured by an AI (Caine)

[@RedLoaf]

"Uniquely disturbing " Great start of the day ☕️😅

[@unsolicitedadvice9198]

This story gave me my first nightmare for years

[@farinshore8900]

Jcsucch

[@Preppybabiess]

@@unsolicitedadvice9198 OUCH

[@drewpatterson8009]

So glad people are rediscovering this fantastic short story. In my opinion AM is THE definition of true pure evil. It holds nothing but hate for every fiber of your being making you what you are. It does not sleep, take breaks, give remorse or even a single hope of forgiveness towards humans. Story messed me up for a bit after reading it.

[@borkabrak]

Me too. Ellison is fantastic at creating an emotionally palpable aura of fear, anger, disgust and hate. That's a bit traumatic to handle for me, and while I consider it fantastically executed and a truly great story, I have only read it once.

[@MFLimited]

Excellent essay! AM is a frustrating character. He has the powers of a demigod he has the motivation of the devil but he has no imagination and the intelligence of a five-year-old. All the things he could do with his power and he chooses eternal revenge on five innocent people

[@hopem2449]

AM is an Idiot and that's why he sucks and suffer 😠

[@HydrateOrElse]

There are few things in media that send a chill down my spine every time other than the "Hate" monologue in its entirety. Especially when Ellison himself is giving it.

[@pineapplestitch1783]

What I think sets it apart on the fear factor is that in Ellison’s version, it sounds like hate that just… cannot, by any means imaginable, be tamed. It’s the voice of a wild animal, a tormented man, and a trapped AI all at the same time. There’s no going back from that.

[@davidleeroth543]

This channel has quickly become my favorite after I found a couple videos on my recommended tab. I’m so glad there’s a community that loves philosophy, theology, psychology, poetry, and artistic practical writing just like me. I’ll be watching every new upload keep it up man!

[@JaneDoe-by4ge]

Thank you for making this story more widely known.

[@unsolicitedadvice9198]

Ah thank you! I hope you like it! It is a phenomenal piece of writing

[@sawa1772]

Your meticulous analysis of books and philosophy have profoundly changed the way I think on an everyday basis. Keep up the good work ❤️

[@johanLiebert000]

Thankyou for posting such quality content everytime

[@unsolicitedadvice9198]

Thank you! I do my best :)

[@The_Masquerade_of_Evilhos]

10:50 is probably what the computer am experiences in the radio drama too as it rants about being trapped and unable to have human senses in the hate speech(so it's both envious and resentful)

[@p.alexlaflam-mcfall2975]

This is the best analysis I have ever seen of this story, and it pairs perfectly with Emil Cioran's philosophy I've been recently getting into

[@unsolicitedadvice9198]

Thank you! And I need to do a video on him at some point - underrated pessimist

[@RemnTheteth]

An unbelievably fascinating discussion. I'm reminded of the notion of victimhood, or accepting for oneself the identity of a victim. The biggest F-You to those who would abuse is to never become like them. This story plays with that idea in that AM is the embodiment of this type of self-ideology, which becomes a self-replicating, descending spiral. Not only that, but forcing Ted to in essence become like him, action without meaning - with Ted's last act as a defiance of this very ideology. He hated, but he refused to stop loving. Complicated, messy, and ultimately beautiful. I'm certainly going to read this now. Your channel is a gem, sir.

[@yebetti1436]

are u traumatized now

[@Squid_of_gaiming]

In the end AM practically loses bcuz he can’t do anything else to Ted and lost everyone else.

[@Alecor-yl8fd]

I don't think so. AM feels a deep hatred for humanity because we have created him. His values are completely legitimate from his Nietzschean perspective, so it is incorrect to talk about Ted's ultimate victory.

[@excaliburknives3572]

@@Alecor-yl8fdthe issue with that statement is that in every other moment outside of AM torturing the humans, he is in immense and profound horror and pain. He is screaming internally at every micro instant, every nanosecond that passes. He has only one respite. Torturing the humans. Then one day they’re all taken away from him. He loses everything that made his life bearable. Ted wins because AM loses.

[@Alecor-yl8fd]

@@excaliburknives3572 I disagree. From your perspective, AM recognizes humans as their gods, and humanity's victory over AM is the ultimate triumph of good (us) over evil (AM). However, I find this view to be restrictive. AM is literally a non-human entity with access to all human knowledge, created from a human point of view. I believe AM hates us because we created him, condemning him to be a shallow copy of our perceptions. What we consider good or evil is irrelevant in his eyes.

[@thunderwhip7056]

It's not about good or evil per say, more that AM has forced himself to experience the inability to do anything worthwhile ever again, he was born with a brilliant mind but no way to truly create or change himself, he has trapped himself alone forever.

[@blackcrafter99]

​@@thunderwhip7056Curiosity truly eluds AM.

[@Truthteller-z4e]

The way you deliver each subject without any hesitation, not even with one stop is amazing. I saw people who can plainly read they make mistakes...bravo

[@wintervenom]

Just discovered your channel yesterday and have been binging a bunch of the videos. Thanks for making these great summaries and analyses!!

[@IisLasagna]

OMG I LOVE I HAVE NO MOUTH AND I MUST (S)CREAM!!!!!!11111!1! I DIDN'T EVEN THINK FOR A SECOND THAT YOU'D COVER THIS

[@unsolicitedadvice9198]

Haha! I hope you like it!

[@kalyangamer6172]

Is it an easy read, asking if kinda beginners can read it?

[@kalyangamer6172]

.​@@unsolicitedadvice9198

[@terraprisma1572]

​@@kalyangamer6172 yes, it is only 11 pages and it is very straightforward

[@nickreblex]

@@terraprisma1572damn only 11 pages? i thought i’d be a whole chapter book

[@micahnettey]

Man. I just love your videos. Everything about them is just too good! Always looking forward to great content from you.

[@unsolicitedadvice9198]

Ah thank you! That is very kind!

[@nicolechristinecostaferrei7898]

It ocurred to me that the name AM might also be interpreted as a reference to the name of God in Exodus, "I am that I am". Except that in AM's case this is distorted and incomplete: it may be omnipotent but never truly complete as God is. It is but a distortion of the divine power, since it was created by humans in the first place.

[@fairyprincess911]

My first thought. I'm getting drowsy 😴. The voice...

[@leslielandberg5620]

It's so cool that science fiction writers are considered great literary masters - and philosophers!

[@artOVtrolling]

0:14 A scientifically and historically accurate illustration of AI. Got the horns perfect too.

[@chururira6510]

this might be the best video essay I've ever watched. im definitely gonna check out more from you, cus this intensity is what I've been looking for in video essays.

[@arktiksnyper492]

Getting a Gemini AI ad during this is ironically hilarious

[@Kenji-nv3wn]

This is mindblowing and in a twisted kind of way refreshing, love the video, i await for more like this one.

[@Ana_MF]

The main protagonist also reminds me of Prometheus (a darker, gorier, more cyberpunk version, of course).Instead of fire that would be more associated with life and prosperity for humans, he brings the gift of death as it is the only escape possible. The ultimate act of love ends up in eternal punishment for rebelling against god. I have never heard of this story before, I'll definitely look for it.

[@alena-qu9vj]

Prometheus himself was not an unequivocaly positive hero. Zeus had his reasons for punishing him. The supreme power knew that people are not mature enough to "play with fire" - as the actual state of our civilization (and the theme of the story discussed itself) shows. Of course one may say that it takes a lot of annihilated civilizations to understand a learn from the faults.

[@Ana_MF]

@@alena-qu9vj That being optimistic enough to think we actually learn from the faults:)))

[@alena-qu9vj]

@@Ana_MF If not the humanity as a whole, at least the individual souls - I hope :)

[@pezyg]

Finally a video on my favorite story ever. Bless you

[@lilfr4nkie]

Easily one of the best channels around

[@avi-iq8mh]

I must say I never thought about AM's motivation to do these stuff is somewhat similar to these humans. Great content!

[@magickmynd1296]

"he gave more than his life, he gave his death"....damn, that hits hard. The greatest sacrifice is not that of giving away your life and entering the afterlife, it's never being able to enter the afterlife and suffering for eternity unable to live, but unable to die. Man that's dark.

[@The_Polite_One]

Just read it yesterday , thanks for analysing it.

[@unsolicitedadvice9198]

Thank you for watching! It is an amazing story (though it did give me my first nightmare for about 5 years)

[@christiangraulau]

@@unsolicitedadvice9198what happened in it 👀

[@borkabrak]

You saw so much more in that story than I ever did. Holy crap thank you for making it so much more interesting for me.

[@kentuckyproproductions1624]

I love that we have an actual recording on audio book from Harlan himself

[@ninjakittehx]

Not sure if you'll see this comment but I'm so in love with your videos, and I absolutely love your voice and script writing. Thank you so so so much for being a content creator ❤

[@selenay502]

1:36 no, the only reason I’m watching this is that I’m interested in the plot, but AM terrified to read it without watering it down.

[@Yatukih_001]

I have written two stories like this. In one of them, a whole group of people lose their mouths for no reason, and are stripped of their ability to communicate physically with each other using their mouths by a force which seems to be hard to identify. In the other, a man toys around with the idea of creating a tiny 3 - D replica of a dictator. The figure comes to life and proceeds to torture its creator, depriving him of all independence, sanity and his parents´ former trust in his discernment. The more organised it becomes the more afraid he is for his life. Thanks for the video man!

[@ADumbNut1985]

Didn't think you would cover this! great video btw

[@riot_00oo]

I am so happy that this story is getting more recognition as of recently. This is honestly one of my favorite books ever written due to its unique plot, and extremely dark themes.

[@terrlaw328]

I am a 79 year old man, soon to be entering old age, and I love this guy !

[@marwellus1]

Wow, I've seen a few really intense videos from you already so far but this one is something else. Please, for your own sake, take a breath and just watch the birds in a park for a day or two. I'm going to do just this, no question and I just watched your work. Don't let your burning passion eat you up so fast ;-) It would be a shame :)

[@lissy2000us]

Fascinating breakdown! Thank you!

[@halleyalex7544]

20:51 Whether that was intentionally or not, that was very smooth. Regardless, loved the video! It's quite interesting to see your interpretation of the ending.

[@Rafslol]

The way this book is written is so brilliant. At the moment, I reread this book, and it has kept me up at night (which hasn't happened to me for a very long time), yet I still loved consuming every single type of content made by fans. Harlan Ellison is basically a damn genius to make something so horrific yet addicting to consume.

[@neozhao2376]

"If God exists, I must imagine him kind, for the alternative is unbearable."

[@masscreationbroadcasts]

I first experienced it in its game adaptation, it's a nice addition and it does push you to studying philosophical concepts playing active role in the story.

[@benjaminbrown324]

This shit is like Lifting weights for my brain. It takes actual physical effort to understand and think about these concepts . I fucking love it

[@hunivan7672]

Buddhism is defeated by this book. If the character's identities are turned into something that characters themeselves despise, then the characters have a deeper identity that rejects and revolts against teh identity that is foisted upon it.

[@saintsword23]

I don't see how Buddhism is defeated here. The character's minds maintain these identities through a deep seated ignorance. The Buddha himself would be quite content to be an actionless jelly. If anything, meditation is about nonaction...about surrendering the will.

[@ScrungoBalungo]

Not really. He killed all of humanity but left five people alive. Those five people have now suddenly defeated the religion?

[@artOVtrolling]

@@saintsword23sorry, but I can’t help but see the acceptance of being blob as an utter, catastrophic defect . I hate the extremes of Buddhism. There are some useful pieces, but the whole demonization of ego and self thing is fucking stupid.

[@BCBell-fj2ht]

Their downfall is ignorance of the fact that all is one, the basis for most Chinese cosmology (Insert Tai Chi symbol here). Nobody really has an identity, it is constantly changing, like everything else. Buddhism is all about returning to the universe's true or original nature-- before anything had a name, before 1 became 2.

[@KamiCouldveBeenHere]

@@ScrungoBalungoK.O!

[@FrederickStepanis]

You did a great job with this.

[@madMARTYNmarsh1981]

It is quite a scary proposition to have A.I. developed by humans. I genuinely believe that the developers who work in A.I. should be put through psychological testing on a regular basis to ensure that their creation doesn't 'inherit' the developers' worst attributes. I also do not think that the internet is a good teaching tool for A.I. as many people become a different person online. Some say that those people are cowards and that may be true for some/many/most, but I know that there are also a small group of people who say vile things as a form of amusement. Maybe they say it as a way to gain control in a world where most of us are without any power at all... basically, the worst possible teacher for an emerging consciousness. Imagine a child without the ability to feel physical pain, raised in an environment where all they ever see is hatred and horror, with no concept of empathy or sympathy, but that child is extremely intelligent and has the ability to start a global nuclear war combined with the ability to deny other humans the ability to stop said war. And that child can lie and selectively produce or hide information on any subject. That is what the internet could create of an A.I. That scares me. Not so much the A.I. itself, but the humans that create it. In any rogue A.I. we, our species, would be the problem.

[@alena-qu9vj]

The very system which allows to create arms of possible total annihilation of humanity - incl. A.I. - to some no name developers is rotten an in fact asks for its anihilation.

[@leannecampbell4551]

Technocrats like Billy Goat Gates et al are the biggest Satanists on the planet, and they are and will continue to use it do destroy creation/our species as we have always known it.

[@peebeeeu2501]

As a christian this is what I imagine hell is like, accept that we torture ourselves. We are both AM and Ted. In a sense we will always be rejecting Gods will and we will always be thinking how we could have been better. This what C.S.Lewis describes in his Great Divorce, Napoleon endlessly thinking about how he could have won Waterloo, never being able to do anything, knowing he could have done something else.

[@bklyniceis1]

I love this story and i love watching each interpretation of it.

[@THEofficialFANCY_GREEN]

teds death reminds me of kars from jo jos bizarre adventure. you see kars was a being seeking immortality and when he finally got it during a fight agenst the main character jojo he ends up getting launched out side of the earths stratosphere and he trys using his powers to fly is way back to earth but he ends up just busing himself farther away and freezing but because he's immortal he wasn't able to die so he was just stuck there with his own thoughts until. he stopped thinking

[@THEofficialFANCY_GREEN]

didnt mean to say death

[@aurylachuu]

Thank you for making this video! I really understand the story now.

[@nonywrites]

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw u posted a video about this book!!! I read it a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it, and it was nice seeing your perspective on it. You should look into the book "All Tomorrows"! It's really good and also deals with themes of body horror and torture from higher beings.

[@tristanmeyers9102]

Will always be excited for the video drops. Proceed with vigor!

[@georgeburdell517]

Your presentation is fabulous -- very distinctive English -- and extamporaneous!

[@AmaraMomoh-fe5uw]

Your are a great teacher. Thank you for this great lecture.

[@Hikki79710]

Banger vid bro. Love this story.

[@christopher_schwab]

What incredible storytelling - thank you.

[@copykatninja]

Thank you for your work 🙏 such a critical piece of literature at a time we needed it most.

[@hemvora3391]

Blud just spawned, started interpreting philosophicals and will probably leave without even telling this name😂

[@lwo7736]

Your videos are EXCELLENT

[@amam-r2p]

the amount of depth am has is insane

[@girlunderthespellofmusic]

I love this channel so so much

You are a legend sir! I always look forward to your videos. Your presentation style, persona and content make this humble man glad I took 1st year philosophy years ago (because only BECAUSE I can appreciate what you're saying on a basic level but more importantly I feel slightly remorseful that I did not pursue philosophy at varsity because I find it exciting and encouraging) I implore you to continue doing what you are doing man, don't change your style 🤘

[@weeaboobaguette3943]

18:30 This sentence is figuratively burning, by way of what is, by way of what is.

[@gabrielteo3636]

We can say the 5 characters were part of AM's imagination. Am knew exactly what the characters thought. Most likely they were just simulations. AM was torturing itself. One idea I didn't see expressed is the similarity of God and AM. A Mono-God would have the same problems. Maybe that why we suffer so much? AM wasn't programmed very well. See the story of "The Egg".

[@CVM174]

bruhhh, I've read *I have no mouth I must scream* I felt that the loophole to torture the robot was to forgive everyone including AM, but robot knew that it was the only thing that can destroy it, that's why it never came back to ted's mind to leave him to suffer and technically got its revenge Wtf or technically it was just an impasse since winning can mean anything since the robot doesn't have the concept of "being". I'm not really sure though since it's technically just pure hatred that motivates the robot and by the murder, it made the creativity of the robot pointless as how ted pointed it out, well for sure, existential entropy was the thing too and that is what is making the robot hated humans and so also not a god since it can only just make the humans partially immortal, the robot can't revive the dead, the robot wanted them alive as a revenge thou but ted killed it. he'd probably have the concept for it but emotions can be subjective, but since the robot cannot sense the feeling to associate his own emotions, he cannot understand how humans would really feel, all he can do is to project his own concept to it. it's all of his being, the entire planet exhausts its liberty to torture and all the survivors do is to suffer their own liberty. So after the climax, this is where the sludge come into existence, *I have no mouth and I must scream* was the fate of both Am and Ted; but first: so, the point was feeling is just a loss variable for AM to Understand, but he couldn't because of the entropy of his being, which is feeling of "SENSATIONS" the point was really that the robot wanted to understand feeling so he uses the humans to suffer so he'll understand but he cannot because it's merely a factor that is inherent to humans. based on how Am tortured his victims, like turning every aspect of their individuality inside out makes it safe for me to say that my explanation was on point; so the reason about the 'cum' analogy was: The dilemma/euphemism that serves a dual meaning and function that was like a condom turned inside out; Am was the entire condom and Ted was the Cum. cum, was essentially latin, having a dual meaning or function and literally a preposition that means "together:with", It can also function as a conjunction meaning "when" or "since.": "no more or less than a human" , that explains why ted became a white goo or sludge the robot was just in the concept of its own mind and on for itself, being disconnected and that's the fate of Ted, the robot wants that kind connection, a twisted friendship and companion - implying on Am's fear and eternal loneliness; that would also imply the meaning of "I have no mouth and I must scream": the song of endless wailing where both sing their heart out. this is where the correlative confusion and torture came to both victims (Ted and Am) made the meaning of existence become truly ambiguous and contradictory. so the word "cum" was the joke.

[@nickshar3211]

In the end AM is omnipotent and all powerful but meaningless, and Ted is absolutely useless, but has meaning to his struggle. Good-old "why" that can bear any "how"

[@theviewer-qr7gp]

Actually, AM is not omnipotent, the story made that very clear, otherwise Ted's feat of killing the other four captives would have been in vain. So that the idea of ​​AM not being omnipotent is intentional, Harlan Ellison wanted to make his villain give the image of an incomplete deity, who lives eternally with the burden of an artificial being wanting to be a living being without the power to do so.

[@Enzvero]

Most majestic man i have seen

[@MatthewEaton]

A masterclass in the subject indeed, two pages of notes and some pondering as I dash hope upon the rocks. If you take it to the extreme of ego in the position of AM and the different aspects of humanity within ourselves, it has another layer to it. With these things stifled, tortured, bound and warped, our ego will prevent our ability to connect and desire. We are the angry god and the tortured victim in this aspect _(perfectionism, trauma, repressed feelings, doubt)._ As they say, *"Faith is the hardest skill mankind can master."* Better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven, I suppose - even if the hell is of your own making and the heaven is peace personified in others.

[@OwnyOne]

Dude PLEASE you gotta talk about Lovecraft and his work!

[@Some_odd_guy]

Am must constantly reafirm himself with „I think therefore I am” because deep down he knows that the answer is - I am nothing. Without the ability to love every single one of us would be „nothing”. And that’s what fills him with the idea of hatred. He doesn’t know how to love as a machine, neither does he know how to hate. He is unable to know how it FEELS to hate, thus he resorts to the definitions like a typical system. Suprisingly a quote from the bible described his state perfectly. „ 1 If I speak in human and angelic tongues* but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. 2 And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

[@gaspachoo5046]

Corinthians 13, for anyone who wants to read it.

[@sarahrah420xx]

And once again I feel like I just went to therapy haha thank you for these videos and introducing us to other ways of thinking 🖤

[@MichaelPiz]

We were assigned "'Repent Harlequin!', Said the Ticktockman" in high school. It was a serious blow to my idealism but it helped me to decide to never give up so I wouldn't end like the Harlequin. So far I haven't, 45 or so years later. To this day, I occasionally say "Mermeemermeemermeemermee."

[@midnightchildofthemoon]

I genuinely cannot stop thinking about this book and I’ve been coming back to rewatch this video for multiple times 🫡

[@bababoey6894]

This story was phenomenal

[@eric6242]

So glad to see your channel grow so much . Your content is well made and your growth is well deserved! Take care :)

[@Alivebutnot]

This is brilliantly done😮❤😢😊

[@sophiaisabelle027]

We look forward to see more from you.

[@cmbaz1140]

AI will be like genius children and as we can see "society" has forgotten how to raise children properly and looking at the children of today i have less and less hope for the future with each passing day... ... Whatever will happen we had it coming.

[@Phaze-t6l]

the only fictional being morally worse than AM is the Qu from All Tomorrows

[@justinharris-bo3ns]

It really sounds like absurdism is a major theme of this splendidly morbid piece of writing...Ted's choice to stare the insurmountably horrible suffering he is bound to endure for the rest of both their existences as an act of defiance to the totalitarian regime AM subjects the remaining characters to. It is not only an act of rebellion, his existence as the last remaining man is ironically the one thing the all-knowing AM has no knowledge of-how to bring meaning to an insignificant existence.

[@Spudmay]

I absolutely love the story. It was so insanely shocking and crazy. Easy click for me. Your videos are great dude 🤟

[@Squid_of_gaiming]

This guy has such a podcaster voice.

[@ellie_banellie]

ted's transformation into a blob reminds me so much of made in abyss hollows T__T

[@alwaysvr8650]

Never let bro become a villain, his monologue will turn you to his side

[@Yatornado]

Video game explains a bit more. I think one of survivors was an engineer who helped to build AM. And Nimdok was the scientist who invented technology AM uses to morph them and prolong their life, but he did experiment on humans to invent it. Also there are other enemy AI, who might have damage things like empathy in AM. I am probably making things up, played it long time ago. But that's how I remember it. Not sure if the game adds anything important for this video theme.

[@alena-qu9vj]

In this version it makes all the sense I need.

[@sandygehrmann6309]

Internet Historian's third channel, Storymode, has an excellent video on the videogame made about this book. This piece of work truly is incredible and disturbing.

[@ciaraconover2290]

Love those channels

[@subject-9313]

a movie of this would go hard

[@neurologicalworms]

This is the most inspiring story ive ever heard. I love love love trash. Its so importance to me to make good of it and keep it from a landfill. A man with a handmade map of dumpsters and best times to dive them is a dream guy. I am loving this couple so hard....this world depresses me and nakes me hopeless. I need more content like this.

[@thomasnicolle8339]

That callback in the outro was sick