I find it fascinating how we’re so willing to ascribe thoughts, feelings, and motivations to inanimate objects or forces of nature and on the other hand we’re so quick to remove all of those attributes from other groups of humans to justify horrible acts done to them.
We’re hella cute. But pareidolia is seriously gonna be the end of us when the AI takes over 😂
It’s already responsible for religion and all the nonsense it’s spawned.
Even ascribing consciousness into others or ourselves is actually pretty stupid if you think about it.
Stemming from religion there’s this idea that human “souls” are somehow special and exist on a plane outside reality. But that’s not the case.
We are just semi-rigid blobs of mostly water that grew into weird shapes.
Woah woah there, who you calling a weird shape?
Yeah, round is arguably the most perfect shape
Because our collective we is composed of many different people. You have brilliant scientific minds and genius artistic people and everyone in between. At the same time you have very empathetic people and others who would not hesitate to hurt someone for their gain.
Diversity is both a blessing and a curse.
That is true, but people are capable of holding both views at the same time. Soldiers on the battlefield go out and do horrific things to enemy soldiers and civilians, and come home and are loving fathers and husbands who wouldn’t hurt anyone. Or how many times have people been caught for horrible crimes and all their friends and neighbours say it isn’t possible because they’re the kindest and most helpful people they know.
This isn’t a matter of “some people are capable and some are not”. It’s a case of “most people seem to be able to set aside someone else’s humanity to do horrible things”
Probably the biggest and most important question in the world.
I dropped my phone the other day and started apologising to it for dropping it again.
Beautifully (tragically?) put. Well done. It’s worth pondering…
I think maybe it’s because when something lacks human qualities, we’re more able to project our wishes onto it, whether that’s its “personality” or “story” or “feelings”, whatever. Maybe in a way it makes it feel predictable and “safer”, like we know it somehow. It will behave the way it behaves regardless of the little projections we put on it that can sometimes be a remnant of our own egos.
…People, on the other hand, are much less predictable, and tend to highly dislike being projected upon. Maybe removing relatable qualities and generalizing groups of them is a selfish way of turning them into an “object” that “feels more predictable” and the one projecting feels like it satisfies their need for control, even though it dehumanizes others who are, in actuality, just like themselves.
I feel like it’s a maladaptive way to simplify the complicated. The brain loves to simplify.
Empathy tends to be such a prevention AND a cure…
As the user experience designer, this “singing“ of electronics, and other such devices has been prevalent for the last decade or so. It’s an attempt to humanize the electronic devices we interact with every day. I question its effectiveness or validity, but, nonetheless, it has become extremely popular in both the medical device field and the field of home appliances. Buying an LG or a Samsung appliance, and it will, very annoyingly, play little songs when it’s done doing whatever it does.
I find this a particularly interesting emergent cultural application of anthropomorphism to everyday objects. I wonder how it will progress over the next decade or so.
Uh I love the songs my dryer and dishwasher play when they’re done. Its much better than just BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTT
When it’s done? Fine.
Every time I turn it on, or off, or open the door, or think about using it for a second? No thank you. I don’t need a tune for every action. I can very clearly see that you’re on because the display is on. I know you’re open because I’m standing right the fuck here.
OK well I have never seen one play a whole song every time you touch it. Mine just does a simple jingle when the cycle is over.
I just need a singing rice cooker so I can go “Ganbatte Mr Rice Cooker San!” when he starts cooking and “Arigato Mr Rice Cooker San” when he is done.
You’re gonna miss the tune for when the display dies but the controller still works. It’s actually there for user input feedback. It could’ve been anything else, but if it has to be there, it might as well be something pleasant. Picture an appliance that screamed every time you pushed a button.
Like Hitchhiker’s Guide’s sighing doors. :D
I prefer a simple signal, too. Maybe the whole “play a song when the laundry is done” is a cultural thing.
I prefer a little deedle-eep to a horrid mechanical buzzer.
When the dishwasher spends an entire goddamn minute doing the same annoying chiptune, every single day… gimme back the buzzer.
For reference, it’s a whole genre. Not to be confused with appliances that have speakers and bzzt or beep or play jingles or whatever, or for that matter also musical tesla coils, those are much more like speakers.
It’s been a part of computer culture since pretty much forever, now kinda dying out because nothing is mechanical any more.
I had a 1541 that played Daisy Daisy
This is fucking amazing!!! :O
It seems a better expenditure than flinging cars into outer space, but that’s just me. 🤷
If Elon Musk wanted to use his company to be a dipshit and fling his car into space, why not?
The EPA and other regulators could control them better, but whatever ventures they choose to make are their own dumb choices. The only ways their dumb PR project intersects with anything NASA related is theyre both doing space things and NASA happens to give them contracts (which is how they’re able to afford to launch a car into space as a PR stunt).
The only ways their dumb PR project intersects with anything NASA related…
I mean we’re all nail-bitingly hoping Musk-and-friends’ increasing amount of space trash doesn’t intersect with NASA equipment as much as it already intersects our line of sight to the cosmos. :( lol
I wonder if they pitch-corrected it so it plays correctly in the Martian atmosphere…
If that’s not both sad and happy, then why am I reading this through tears?
If you like this and haven’t seen “Good Night, Oppy” you should go do that right now.
A documentary, sounds boring.
Troll harder.
Incoming copyright lawsuit in 3, 2, 1…
Maybe it’s not enforceable on other planets?
It was broadcast to Earth!
No free fun allowed!
Thanks, needed that.
the first ever song sung on Mars
A missed opportunity for a kazoo-quality Bowie cover.
“It’s a godawful small affair…”
Curiosity isn’t a little robot.
It’s the size of a small car…
There are different scales for big and small. In comparison to everything Curiosity was associated with (rockets, planets) it was tiny
That’s what you took from this?
It’s annoying me because that commenter is using a diminutive to try and anthropomorphise a robot.
You can anthropomorphise it but at least have a basic understanding of the dimensions of the thing you’re trying to make cute.
Your mom is the size of a small car, but I still think she’s cute.
This from the “we” who called Higgs-Boson the blasphemous gd particle but make the joke more popular as the misunderstood “god particle” that eventually became most conceptualized as "the God particle?
I mean, on the cosmic scale that’s the context for the story, both cars and robots are tiny ;) I’m sure the black hole will think they’re cute before gobbling them up.
It’s called worship.
Not a bad thing, just shit when it’s used to control people.
Good on them for expressing their appreciationane love (worship) for something that is expanding our knowledge.
What? Sincerely, what?
I’m not sure where my head was when I commented this.
Just getting at the idea that they’re basically worshipping the thing.
We as people just really like worshipping stuff.
Maybe worship is the wrong word due to its religious connotations, but it’s effectively the same thing to hold these kind of celebrations for items that we revere.
Anyway, I’m not sure why the above was relevant:)
