Tygue Luecke-Week 8-ROBOTS AE NOT OKAY!!!

Due to the fact that we spoke about so many revolutionary discoveries and inventions this week (and I have to admit that I am thinking mostly about the discovery of Watson and Crick, considering that I have studied them many, many times prior to this week), I want to mention how desensitized we have all become to such advances. I mean, I feel like I hear about such things on the news all the time these days. Whether they are actually occurring, or even if they are merely being mentioned, they seem to be invading our televisions and newspapers constantly. I wonder how many of these things that we are told are truly revolutionary will (1) be treated with the same respect and weight Watson and Crick’s discovery and (2) hold up in time like so many of the things we have learned about this week. This all makes me wonder what it would have been like to grow up in an age when technological innovation was not nearly so ubiquitous. I feel like it would be a more exciting time in which to be raised. I cannot even fathom how amazing it would have been to see the moon landing in 1969, and now we learn about people who create bionic arm art exhibits and grow third ears in class on a bi-weekly basis. I don’t even know how impressed I would be if we were to someday land on Mars. How sad.

I don’t know about you guys, but I always wonder what it would be like if a person from around 1900 were to see one of those super-long buses here in LA, or something equally futuristic looking.

This is one of those things that makes me that we just know too much:

http://www.limblengthening.com/news/reccforpincare.html

I am a big fan of plastic surgery, and yet somehow this just seems like too much. Hmm… now that I consider my affinity for plastic surgery, it might be wrong for me to think limb lengthening is just wrong. It might be. I don’t know.

Okay- now for reals: THIS is not okay:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article682284.ece

Frankly, growing skin over robotic limbs downright scares me. Remember Star Wars: Return of the Jedi? Well, not even Luke Skywalker gets skin. He has to make due with a leather glove. And he is from a galaxy far, far away. Hmm… maybe because he’s from a long, long time ago… That MUST be it, because there is seriously no way that we should have the ability to do anything they weren’t able to do in Star Wars. That, I am SURE, is not okay… at least with me. I suppose I’m not okay with a lot of scientific things, though. It’s mainly just robots.

On the subject of robots, robots are not cool. Robots will become FAR too complex FAR too quickly, and people will all too quickly start arguing for robot rights. UGH! Robots will NEVER deserve rights, no matter how much their inner processes may resemble human feeling. And this reminds me of our discussion of Eliza and Agent Ruby and networked consciousness. It’s all just wrong to me. Just wrong. So, basically, what I’m saying is: don’t support robots. They will be given TOO much credit, and might just take over the world. SO BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!