The Life of Colossus (?)

Colossus was an intriguing movie. However, I don't agree with the majority of the class when they claim that we're better off under the control of Colossus. There is something to be said about having knowledge of what you're capable of doing, whether or not your're actually going to do it. I guess that's a fault in humans. For example, my roommate buys a whole bunch of food he never eats. He just has it sitting in the fridge or the pantry, not eating it. I think he likes the idea of knowing he could eat it when he wanted to more than actually eating it.
Colossus would let us live our ideal lives, but knowing that we didn't have the possibility of doing harm if we wanted scares us. He would be limiting the possibilities of our actions, and humans don't like to be limited, even if for our own good. So no, unlike the rest of the class, I don't think the human race would better under the control of a machine. There would never be 100% compliance.
Besides that whole little problem of free will and whatnot, I don't think we'd be a better society under Colossus even if it (he?) had 100% compliance, and why not? Because he believes war does nothing for the betterment of human beings. While, yes, war is--on the short term--a terrible thing (lives lost, destruction, blah blah blah), its byproducts only lead to progression. Advances in technology are often sped up with the need for more powerful and efficient fighting machines. While weapons and troop transport are their main aims, the breakthroughs they make go on to benefit everyday technology. If you're against the overpopulation of the Earth in response to our limited natural resources, war is just one way to keep the numbers down. If that seems too grim, you can always rely on big wars leading to some sort of a baby boom. Also, war keeps people in check. World War II was necessary to keep Hitler from exterminating a whole race.
But then again, come to think of it, Colossus would have kept Hitler in check. He could control the human population and even help us advance technology. He's sounded better and better every second... I guess Colossus would take away our need for war. Even still, with my entire second argument completely self-disproven, Colossus wouldn't be successful for my initial reason.
Now, everything I've said so far is under the notion that Colossus was able to become a living being, to become self-aware and have consciousness. That was the one major factor in the movie I couldn't wrap my mind around. How was it able to make that jump? How did it go from programmed software to a self-conscious being? Where is that line and how do you cross it? The issue of consciousness was brought up in Butler's Erewhon. It made me wonder what we consider consciousness. For example, the Venus Fly Trap only closes on flies, nothing else. We consider plants to be void of consciousness. If so, how does it distinguish its victim? What is consciousness at that point? To quote Butler: "Where does consciousness begin, and where end? Who can draw the line? Who can draw any line?" (238). I couldn't figure out how Colossus crossed this ambiguous line and became self-aware.
Not only did Butler's writing make me rethink the meaning of consciousness, it also had be rework in my head the meaning of reproduction, and life in general. He had a point in saying that machines couldn't reproduce they way reproduce, but that isn't the only mode of reproduction. It is completely plausible for machines to reproduce in the same vein as ants and bees: the majority--the workers--make the minority--the reproducers--able to reproduce. I can fathom machines reproducing this way, without the aid of man. If they can grow independently as a society, they can live independently as well. What, then, is living? Are plants not life? Can't machines function at the same level as plants? Why, then, are machines not living?
I guess the biggest realization I came to while reading Erewhon was that machines don't have to develop into human-level beings to be considered living. I can fathom machines living amongst us as do plants. However, the day a machine acts in its own interest for its own personal gain (whatever it might want to gain when that day comes), we're doomed.
I guess the reason I couldn't comprehend Colossus to be a conscious being was because he didn't have a motive for his actions. Sure, he was acting to protect and better the human race, but that is not beneficial to him in any way. The only reason he'd continue to act this way is because he was programmed to do so. In that case, he is still not acting out of self-interest, for personal gain. Therefore, I could not see why he'd be a conscious being.
Damn, here I go contradicting myself again. Colossus was probably acting in order to exert his power over the inferior population. So, while I still don't know how he became like this, I can now see him as a conscious being. And a good one at that. He's still out to help us as living beings while perserving his own superiority. Too bad we'll have none of that.