Earlier today, I saw this on the Internet. I initially though it was cute, innocent, the usual pot-pourri of "aww" emotions.
Then, as is inevitable, I began to deconstruct the concept behind the tweenbot and why it was helped along.
Was it simply because we are nice people, who selflessly give aid to others in need of it? Surely none of these people could have expected a reward in money, services or goods—perhaps they were getting nothing out of it, and merely aiding the hapless golem out of a sense of communal charity?
Or, was it something more self-centred? Were they getting a psychic reward out of their service? Surely, I thought, for we do not do things without some cause, whether it is justifiable later or not, and they were not being rewarded with gumballs.
But, was this really it? What was the psychic reward that was received for doing these acts? Was it that the pedestrians again felt charitable, and felt good for being so charitable? Perhaps, but was that all? If they felt a reward for being charitable,
why were they being charitable? Were they, again, simply fundamentally giving? Or were they instead pulled to help the little robot because it made them feel nurturing, or superior? The robot came with no message other than a request for aid, and was totally ideologically naked, and without a will; had it proclaimed X over Y, or Foo over Bar, would people have felt so giving? Or would they be repulsed by the idea that this robot had come with its own message, that it could not be used as a cathartic
tabula rasa of sorts by those aiding it, because it had already noticeably served such a purpose?
We naturally want to think more of ourselves. This is the root cause of every moral infraction since the original, every bit of coercion, every rise of a tyrant, every abusive parent. Objects (or children) that come with no presuppositions about our character can be subconsciously molded to fit our view, and because it is private in this case, there was none to challenge the imprinting; because it was not a conscious being, the tweenbot could not fight back against this coercive molding of its purpose.
Wouldn't it be nice, I'm sure ran the thought, if we were all so innocent?
Surely it would, if only we were in charge of the imprinting.
