Koala Bear: "You're a robot" ... Robots - Enjoying too Angela & Victor's Yoga courses because they're freeing * See, too, a version of this "You're a robot" email here at bottom: Taiga: "Aphilo Scott MacLeod The Making of Virtual Harbin Introduction" ... ~ https://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2020/01/taiga-aphilo-scott-macleod-making-of.html ~ A 'Desiderata' (poem) robot? * Defining Robots and explaining freeing and humanizing aspects of being human

"You're a robot" 

Defining Robots and explaining freeing and humanizing aspects of being human ...

  

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Good morning, Ma,

Nice to hear from Karen yesterday in the 'Online Psychoanalysis' email thread, - and in which she mentioned the word 'robot' too (perhaps re distancing idea with technologies - see email below, and her sentence "Sharing my innermost thoughts with a computer screen in between makes me feel sort of robotic" ...), ... and which you, Ma, too had said I was a number of times about me over Christmas and New Years.

A 'Desiderata' (poem) robot? (https://mwkworks.com/desiderata.html) ...

I think I also enjoy Angela & Victor's Yoga courses because they're freeing, and help one come in touch with one's 'inner body' in far-reaching and deep ways ... kind of the antithesis of being a robot ... in modernity (internetity) .... the information age (per Castells). ... (where becoming 'human' or a person may be a hippy thing here with regard to modernity's (limiting) roles, - & protesting them even?). 

So I've been wondering or thinking about what you might mean in calling me a robot, Ma ... a nerd?, a geek?, a logical operator? A bot as person in the information technology revolution? A thinker in a body? An automaton? What mean you? 

And is this praise? Or is this a new observation on your part - in your 'yclepting' me ( John Money's word for "to name, call or style" - http://scottmacleod.com/JohnMoneyConceptsOfDeterminism.html ) which as an exigency of being human (per Money too) is something all people do, something probably parents do, and something you and I do too :) - and what is it suggesting (or what do you mean, I wonder?)

Some DEFINITIONS I found for ROBOT: 

"a machine resembling a human being and able to replicate certain human movements and functions automatically"

(Automatic means:
"working by itself with little or no direct human control")

DEFINITION: 

"A ROBOT is a machine designed to execute one or more tasks automatically with speed and precision. There are as many different types of robots as there are tasks for them to perform. ... An autonomous robot acts as a stand-alone system, complete with its own computer (called the controller)."

DEFINITION:
"a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically, especially one programmable by a computer."

BOT, by contrast, in computing:

"an autonomous program on a network (especially the Internet) that can interact with computer systems or users, especially one designed to respond or behave like a player in an adventure game."

(And, parenthetically, is your CAR a ROBOT? -
"Is your car a robot? NO! But a modern car is full of sensors, motors and computer power - all the kind of things we expect to see in a robot. ... So we have the idea that a robot must be able to act autonomously, controlled by an internal program, rather than being controlled (or remote-controlled) by a human.")

AVATAR BOT?

Avatar bot definition ...
"In computing, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character. An icon or figure representing a particular person in a video game, Internet forum, etc. ... The term "avatar" can also refer to the personality connected with the screen name, or handle, of an Internet user."
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(computing)

And see the video above as an example ~ "Aphilo Scott MacLeod The Making of Virtual Harbin" ...  https://youtu.be/3nhvcHw54GE ...

In suggesting that I'm a robot, Ma, and with regard to my interest in these regards in the Desiderata poem, it's the last lines that could add something new to grow the idea that people (e.g. MIT students?) can be robots (and the words, spirit, God, soul throughout poem) ...

" . . . And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy"

Just thinking about these questions (and social scientifically, and philosophically too :)

Your thoughts, Ma? Why do you say " You're a robot" to me, or call me a robot, Ma? :) Am seeking to make conscious our thinking about robots here too :) (and in a Lacanian 'speech act' way too:). 

Food for thought in creating & BUILDING Lego robots anew too! :)

While meditating this morning - it's a very beautiful morning here in Canyon, both looking east and west - this also came to mind re your suggesting I'm a robot: One key aspect of robots that makes them different from humans I think is agency (which could be loosely defined as free will, intentional causation, 'action or intervention, especially such as to produce a particular effect' which would include judgement and decision-making). So I wonder if, in calling me a robot, whether you're saying I don't have agency (or loosely free will)? So, are you saying, Ma, "You're not free (to act intentionally)" when you say to me "You're a robot"? :)

Looking forward to your Desiderata robot reply, MaBot :)

Love, Scott

Cousin Karen's email to me:
Dear Scotty, you flatter me to think I am of the on-line, digital generation.  In truth, I hardly do any on-line communications.  My philosophizing with my buddies is usually on the hiking trail or sitting with them in the evenings with a glass of wine in hand.  I suspect I will not be your best audience as an email correspondent.  Online interactions seem to have a distancing effect on me.  Sharing my innermost thoughts with a computer screen in between makes me feel sort of robotic ...I guess I have to accept my own personal limitations.  And as we talked about, virtual reality is a fascinating concept but pretty far afield for my daily existence. —Your multiplicity of ideas is indeed impressive and it pleases me that  you have such a wide audience for them.  Keep up the good works.  Once the political air has cleared, maybe people will have the mental energy to have clear/headed thoughts again.  You and your generation are our hope.  

      With regards...and a huge hug~~

Cuzzin Karen

And my reply:
see blog post today to come :)

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See, too, a version of this "You're a robot" email here at bottom:

Taiga: "Aphilo Scott MacLeod The Making of Virtual Harbin Introduction" * Just was able to "CAST" this to a large screen ... COOL! ... (but not yet interactively, although this is a video of 3D interactive virtual world, Second Life) * * combining Google Street View with Second Life: * * My new book ~ "To the Dance or the Pools? ~ Virtually!: How different it is to soak at Harbin Hot Springs, than to realize it in virtual Reality" - https://www.amazon.com/author/scottmacleodworlduniversity * * * Social History of the Internet - Scott MacLeod (8 videos) * * * Academic vision, teaching and research, and re actual-virtual Harbin Hot Springs esp. :) * * * A 'Desiderata' (poem) ROBOT? * One key aspect of robots that makes them different from humans I think is agency

~ https://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2020/01/taiga-aphilo-scott-macleod-making-of.html ~




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"You're a robot" means for ma mère, I think, "you're smart," I just learned talking with her this evening.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koala

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koala

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