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From:
Adam Piontek
To:
Date:
Tue, 30 Oct 2001 06:17:56 -0800 (PST)
Subject:
[idm] robot dogs (was Re: Emotion (was Re: Brian Eno....etc.))
Msg-Id:
<20011030141756.27300.qmail@web13807.mail.yahoo.com>
In-Reply-To:
<20011030083011.36643.qmail@web14707.mail.yahoo.com>
Mbox:
idm.0110.gz
--- Pjotr Stam <fredscape@rocketmail.com> wrote:
quoted 5 lines How can you ever say something (besides a living> How can you ever say something (besides a living > creature) has > emotion? Nothing lifeless has emotion (this is a > nice debate for > philosophers :), but it can trigger an emotion...
I just started reading "The Complete Robot" last night for about the 4th time ever - excellent collection of Asimov stories, everyone should read it. Anyways, the first story is a very short affair about a family on the moon whose only child has had up til now a robot dog. They finally have the money to bring a real dog to the moon, the first dog on the moon, and their little kid doesn't want it. They try to explain to him that "Robutt" (robot mutt) isn't real, that its love isn't real, and that he'll know the difference when he finally gets the new, real dog. But the kid just hugs his robutt even harder and starts crying that he doesn't want to lose it. And the robutt starts wagging its tail faster and making its 'beep' noise faster, because it's never been held so tight before. Love (read: emotion) isn't about real or fake or "alive" or "inanimate" - it's about what satisfies and fulfills you. It's about the personal relationship you develop over time with whatever it is. When you get right down to it, if the music one listens to now doesn't satisfy and fulfill, maybe one needs to shop around more. Eno doesn't like what he hears - fine. So he makes his own stuff. Good for him. -Adam __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals. http://personals.yahoo.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org