The Robot Apocalypse: The Complacency of Mankind
Like junkies we're hopelessly addicted to our gadgets. I'm not pointing any fingers, because I myself feel the compulsion to check my email about three times a day. Machines are undoubtedly convenient, entertaining, and positively helpful. Automation has already resulted in the elimination of countless jobs whether for better or worse. While I do believe the stance that computers and machines are turning us into zombies is a bit exaggerated, there is undoubtedly a psychological and physiological impact from relying heavily on machines.
One could argue that human kind was meant to work, to create, and to dream. Consider the fact that when you are working out and being physically active your body releases endorphins. Feeling lethargic, in contrast, isn't a synonym for feeling good. Doing things "the hard way" doesn't seem intuitive. Why not do things in the most efficient way possible? However, efficiency does not always equate the best way of doing things. Confused?
Doing things in an inefficient manner may seem counter-intuitive, but there are circumstances in which the inefficient method has merits. For example, if I drive to the store four blocks from my apartment the travel time is only a minute or so- versus the ten minutes it takes to walk from my apartment to the store. While walking does take longer- there is a slight reduction in gas usage for the week as well as invaluable exercise. Factory-made goods are cheaper and generally have a more reliable consistency- but there is still a market for handmade goods. Perhaps this is because when we hand-make goods we can control aspects of the quality which we cannot in mass production. For example- it is quick and easy to make microwavable popcorn- but when I can I prefer to pop my own in a pot because I can adjust the ingredients and the amount popped.
I heard some criticism when the movie Walle came out- but it doesn't hurt to reflect on the message of the movie. Human kind has become blobs, laying around while the machines do all the work. I'm not saying we will all wind morbidly obese, floating around on hover chairs, constantly stuffing our faces and staring at a screen all day... but obesity is high, we stare at screens all day, and food is still quite delicious. I, for one, saw Walle and thought "this makes way too much sense...".
The robot apocalypse may in fact be far more boring than we envisioned. It's not that we're rooting for a marching hoard of heartless machines to go about blowing things up- but one would like to hope that the demise of humankind would be more epic in nature- more moving and action packed. We're suckers for the Michael Bay. In contrast, the idea of humankind becoming slaves to nothing more than our own complacency is rather anti-climatic and disappointing at best. However, our dependence on our cars, our computers, our microwaves, our tvs, our everything is far more common place than getting attacked by the dishwasher.
The upside of this lackluster dystopian tale? Part three is the easiest robot apocalypse to combat on a personal level. We may not all be Sarah Connor or Neo- but we have the ability to do things ourselves, to think, to create, to work. Should we banish machines? The answer is no. Just understand that before there was an "auto" option- life had given us "manual". Cheers.
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