|
 Peg's
Polemic
Every
month, philosopher Peg Tittle casts off the calm, measured and qualified
style of her profession to deliver her opinionated and impassioned
column, exclusively for the TPM philosophy café...
Number
6. Androids
It
finally dawned on me after reading one too many 'failed android'
stories. I can't remember whether it was in sci-fi or AI, but suddenly
I saw the problem: they always try to create an adult without a
childhood.
If
it weren't for Mary Shelley, I'd be tempted to put the blame on
our sexist society: leave it to the men to 'forget' childhood, to
forget that we don't come out of the womb fully formed, to forget
that we are as much a product of our nurture as our nature. After
all, the men aren't responsible for it, they don't participate in
it, they don't work at daycares, they don't teach elementary school.
You
want to create an android? An artificial life form that can think
and feel, that can respond to questions, to situations, like an
ordinary human being? Then create a baby android. One with the capacity
to learn, to benefit from experience, to grow, to develop. In fifteen
or twenty years, eureka!
Peg's
Polemic will next be updated on May 1st 2001
Previous
polemics
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
|
