Robotics

STOP ROBOTICS Let me start by asking a few questions. Whose words are you reading at this moment? Have I said them? Does the computer display thoughts to you based on information it has been given? In our thoughts, how are we different from the computer? The grey area that saperates us is shrinking... literally.
At this stage in human evolution the computer has stepped up from machine to middle man. It is the go-between. The one who does as we ask. The one who speaks our words. This is the same with all, or most, robotics at this time. I'm not a scientist. About as far from that as one could get. However, I don't think you need a degree in anything to understand that machines and computer technology are taking over human responsibility. In an era where fuel and food limitations are starting to be felt by most countries, no matter what their social, economic or military status, it seems only logical that the consumption of these and other non-expendable materials will at some point begin to determine the number of people the planet can support. As technology takes over responsibilities and removes the necessity of human input the expendable element becomes the human one. Computers and machines do not take up living space. They do not misuse valuable resources like air, land, water and natural materials. Feeding and housing them is easy and becoming easier with alternate-based power supplies. As a species, it seems absurdly suicidal to develop machinery that mimics our physical form and all it's functions. Especially at a time when the intellectual technologies already make most of us seem... limited, to put it kindly. If machinery develops to match it, our days as biological beings are numbered. This is not a theory that fiction has not already explored, (ie: The Terminator, I, Robot, etc.). I just feel compelled to mention it here because I see that the development of these mechanized technologies has not slowed. We rely on computers more. We interact with machines more. The contradiction of using the computer to convey this message is a small sacrifice to pay if only one person understands and acts in some way based upon my re-emphasizing a very old warning. As an artist I see that things made-by-hand are becoming few and far between. Everything is becoming flawless. "Perfect". Untouched by human hands. In the future the only things I can see as having "flaws" will be human beings themselves. At that time I hope those making the ultimate decisions can justify what they would call 'our imperfect existence'.
Although it may seem a little self-serving for a craftsman to say this, my small solutions to the technological epidemic that threatens our future are simple.
Enjoy and encourage any direct interaction with actual people. Enjoy anything made by human hands. Cling to our 'flaws' and accept them as perfection. We are all perfect. Our actions are not imperfect. Faster rarely means better. Information in no way compares to wisdom. Use technology wisely and remember that it is only a tool to serve a function. Value all biological life. R. Anthony Harrison - November 2008

STOP ROBOTICS

Let me start by asking a few questions.

Whose words are you reading at this moment? Have I said them?

Does the computer display thoughts to you based on information it has been given?

In our thoughts, how are we different from the computer?

The grey area that saperates us is shrinking... literally.

At this stage in human evolution the computer has stepped up from machine to
middle man. It is the go-between. The one who does as we ask.
The one who speaks our words. This is the same with all, or most, robotics at this time.

I'm not a scientist.
About as far from that as one could get. However, I don't think you need a degree in anything
to understand that machines and computer technology are
taking over human responsibility.

In an era where fuel and food limitations are starting to be felt by most countries,
no matter what their social, economic or military status, it seems only logical
that the consumption of these and other non-expendable materials will at some point begin
to determine the number of people the planet can support.

As technology takes over responsibilities and removes the necessity of human input
the expendable element becomes the human one. Computers and machines do not take up living space.
They do not misuse valuable resources like air, land, water and natural materials.
Feeding and housing them is easy and becoming easier with alternate-based power supplies.

As a species, it seems absurdly suicidal to develop machinery that mimics
our physical form and all it's functions. Especially at a time when the intellectual technologies
already make most of us seem... limited, to put it kindly. If machinery develops to match it,
our days as biological beings are numbered.

This is not a theory that fiction has not already explored, (ie: The Terminator, I, Robot, etc.).
I just feel compelled to mention it here because I see that the development
of these mechanized technologies has not slowed.

We rely on computers more.
We interact with machines more.

The contradiction of using the computer to convey this message is a small sacrifice
to pay if only one person understands and acts in some way
based upon my re-emphasizing a very old warning.

As an artist I see that things made-by-hand are becoming few and far between. Everything is
becoming flawless. "Perfect". Untouched by human hands. In the future the only things I can see as having "flaws"
will be human beings themselves.
At that time I hope those making the ultimate decisions
can justify what they would call 'our imperfect existence'.

Although it may seem a little self-serving for a craftsman to say this, my small solutions to the
technological epidemic that threatens our future are simple.

Enjoy and encourage any direct interaction with actual people.

Enjoy anything made by human hands.

Cling to our 'flaws' and accept them as perfection.

We are all perfect.

Our actions are not imperfect.

Faster rarely means better.

Information in no way compares to wisdom.

Use technology wisely and remember that it is only
a tool to serve a function.

Value all biological life.

R. Anthony Harrison - November 2008