Thinking back when I watched a lot of television, BattleBots(?) was one of my favorite shows.
Lately we've been watching one DVR recorded Twilight Zone before going to bed...
A recent episode featured futuristic (for the 1950's/60's) robot boxing with Lee Marvin (as one of two owners) posing as their obsolete broken-down robot fighter. Humans were no longer allowed in the ring (too violent) and he didn't want to lose money as a no-show. He thought he could last a couple of rounds (enough for them to get paid) against a robo Mike Tyson. The other guy helped with the robo disguise but kept warning him how dangerous it was...
Another episode (also futuristic) was about a prisoner serving solitary confinement on a barren asteroid. He was ultimately pardoned but not before one of the guards (part of a small space crew that would land every so many months to bring him supplies) had mercy on him and snuck along an unauthorized crate, not to be opened until they left. Of course it was a sexy fembot that was supposedly so advanced as to be indistinguishable from a human female, physically and mentally (meaning that it could simulate emotions like joy, sadness and falling in love). Guards returned much later with the pardon, told him to pack lightly as there was a tight weight limit on the ride back to earth. That posed a real problem for him...
I forgot how cool the Twilight Zone was and how much they thought about humanoid robots back then.
The rusty wire that holds the cork that keeps the anger in Gives way and suddenly it’s day again The sun is in the east Even though the day is done Two suns in the sunset, hmph Could be the human race is run
#4463907 - 03/04/1903:12 AMRe: Next Generation Robots In Development
[Re: Haggart]
I'm a bit on the fence about robots. There is no doubt they have massive advantages, but proliferation of robots WILL make people more lazy and complacent towards things. For all the things the internet and computers gave us, we've also seen that people tend to get stuck in a virtual bubble, with phone addiction and people exclusively seeking online echo chambers being a real and dangerous thing. For all the benefits computers have given us, I see them doing more harm than good, and I cannot pass the feeling that robots are heading in the same direction.
The agricultural complex has given us rampant obesity, the internet has given us reduced social skills, universal access to electricity has given us the greenhouse effect. Do we really want to open another Pandora's box, when robots have already been developed to their maximum potential without causing collateral damage, as seen by the Da Vinci and that Marine Reef Robot?
Last edited by Vaderini; 03/04/1903:13 AM.
#4463916 - 03/04/1905:13 AMRe: Next Generation Robots In Development
[Re: Haggart]
If I was that dude, I'd consider swapping my robo-mower for this other eco-friendly mower...
Last edited by MarkG; 03/04/1905:26 AM.
The rusty wire that holds the cork that keeps the anger in Gives way and suddenly it’s day again The sun is in the east Even though the day is done Two suns in the sunset, hmph Could be the human race is run
#4463929 - 03/04/1911:34 AMRe: Next Generation Robots In Development
[Re: Vaderini]
Joined: Apr 2001 Posts: 121,389PanzerMeyer
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer
Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,389
Miami, FL USA
Originally Posted by Vaderini
The agricultural complex has given us rampant obesity,
That's one of the major causes. The other major cause has to do with the de-industrialization of major sectors in Western economies. What I mean by that is that the majority of workers have jobs that involve very little to no physical activity.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4463935 - 03/04/1912:57 PMRe: Next Generation Robots In Development
[Re: Haggart]
I don't blame farmers for making us fat or the internet for making us lazy and stupid . That's our own fault. I expect that we were pretty fit and savy about our surrounding as hunter/gatherers X thousand years ago..........but I wouldn't want to go back to that
Joined: Apr 2001 Posts: 121,389PanzerMeyer
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer
Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,389
Miami, FL USA
Originally Posted by No105_Archie
I don't blame farmers for making us fat or the internet for making us lazy and stupid . That's our own fault. I expect that we were pretty fit and savy about our surrounding as hunter/gatherers X thousand years ago..........but I wouldn't want to go back to that
I don't blame farmers either but I think I know what Vaderini was referring to. He's referring to large scale industrialized agriculture which had the benefit of vastly reducing the cost of food for consumers but one side effect of that reduction in cost is that it made it easier for consumers to over-eat.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4463947 - 03/04/1902:35 PMRe: Next Generation Robots In Development
[Re: Haggart]
The agricultural complex has given us rampant obesity,
That's one of the major causes. The other major cause has to do with the de-industrialization of major sectors in Western economies. What I mean by that is that the majority of workers have jobs that involve very little to no physical activity.
I've got a great example!...
When I was 16 I moved in with my aunt (father's sister) and uncle who became my legal guardians, mainly so that I could attend the high school in their town (my aunt helped raise me and thought a change might do me good...bless her). They were both unusually slim even for the 80's. He had acquired a small belly, man loved his beer but mostly blamed his evolving job.
He was a long-time dispatcher at a concrete company. He sat in an elevated room and manually calculated the proper mixtures and loads for each job/truck, then had to manually push and pull levers to load the trucks. What I remember was that he was always on the move in that little room.
By the time he retired he was in the same room sitting behind a screen, keyboard and mouse, entering numbers. The loading process had become fully automated, he never needed to leave his chair.
You can't stop progress nor would you want to, you just have to recognize that you may not be as active with everyday tasks as you once were, which is why we have gyms these days.
The rusty wire that holds the cork that keeps the anger in Gives way and suddenly it’s day again The sun is in the east Even though the day is done Two suns in the sunset, hmph Could be the human race is run
#4463975 - 03/04/1906:45 PMRe: Next Generation Robots In Development
[Re: Haggart]
Joined: Oct 1999 Posts: 15,786Haggart
I Fought Diablo