During the process of reading and comprehending Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy, there had been encounters with both ‘aha’ moments as well as moments and notions that have caused a deeper thinking. Being registered to the 400 level course, it is almost second nature to develop certain relationships with literature in terms of analysis and understanding. However, Butler’s Xenogenesis had, in a sense, challenged that somewhat experienced thinking and understanding. There are certain notions that have in a way triggered my own thinking to be something deeper. This is not my only experience with Butler’s works, the others being Bloodchild and other stories as well as Wild Seed. While having experienced works that have required me to think in a unique way about different topics, such as the short story Bloodchild, Xenogenesis has required an even further and admittedly awkward way of thinking that is outside the normal I have become so accustomed to. Having to encounter a new way of thinking was a welcomed challenge, especially in my final semester of undergrad.
There was also a sense of growth that accompanied the new way of thinking, I personally feel that these have both fed into one another. The new and complex way of thinking not only about the literature in front of me, but the world around me has been the catalyst for some of my very own and much needed personal growth. Applying the ability that I have personally developed into trying to understand the Oankali and their own process of life has led me to become more socially intelligent, giving myself more time and care into thinking about others and how their own matters of operation and life are different from my own. This notion was a sort of epiphany as one of the most essential parts of my future career as a teacher is the professional social relationships developed with students.
In terms of having to think differently, Xenogenesis was a challenge to wrap my head around initially, even with an already existing interest in science fiction as a genre. There were certain concepts, socially, about the Oankali that I could not, for the absolute life of me, understand. That is until I stopped looking at the Oankali in a conventional human sense. They are not human, they were not human, so why was I trying to humanize them? The same question can actually be tied into AI and the stigma around it and its use.
My own personal thoughts on AI and its use have grown and developed through this experience as well. Upon coming into the class at the beginning of the semester, I did not have many positive experiences with AI especially after student teaching. There were too many encounters with students using generative AI in bad faith. However, through this course as well as another language course here at the college, I have found uses for AI that does not hinder the user. Where at the beginning of the semester I would not even dare to touch a generative AI program such as ChatGPT, however now at the end of my semester there has been a certain growth in my own ability to see and handle this change in technology. The language class I am enrolled in has introduced the idea to me that AI is not all that evil and how it can be used for one’s benefit such as to learn a new language. This can tie into the earlier notion of thinking and understanding with the Oankali.
Seeing something in a different light is not the only factor of personal growth however. There is a sense of having to see both sides of an argument or inherent issue to be able to grow. It is important to see the dangers that both the Oankali and AI possess in their respective worlds. While both somewhat different, these two entities encounter similar issues when faced towards humanity. Both the Oankali and AI were inherently despised by humanity, both for different reasons, but eventually became accepted, albeit reluctantly. And through this acceptance there are still naysayers. All of this to say that these two entities are inherently similar, which was another factor into this new way of thinking and growth.
There is a balance in everything, that is one of the main takeaways I have gathered, especially when learning about AI, its uses, and its dangers. Not everything can be seen as inherently evil or inherently good, there are two sides to every coin. In terms of the Oankali and the humans, what the Oankali were doing was for survival as a species, however humanity failed to see that. Did the Oankali do that in the humanly correct way? Absolutely not, but there was a pretty viable explanation to their actions and behaviors.
This is the same for AI, although a little different. AI is not something that is essential for survival more than it is a tool for convenience. However the process was somewhat the same to my own understanding, but with a different outcome. AI was widely accepted for all of the wrong reasons, as it was not meant to replace human thinking and intelligence but to enhance it.
What does all of this have to do with personal growth? Well it can be described as a way of thinking, and this open-mindedness can be a path for one’s own personal growth, much like my own throughout the semester. The skill applied in the class in terms of thinking can be applied to most everything. In my own experience of growth throughout the semester there has been a need to take a step back and just think. Learning how to think in a different way was a cause for much needed personal growth.