Knowledge is power. When you know something, you have control over it. Not knowing, however, produces quite a different reaction.
The feeling of not knowing is, perhaps, the scariest feeling we as human beings can feel. The feeling that gives us anxiety and keeps us up at night. The feeling we go to the doctor for. The feeling that we fill prescriptions for. Zoloft. Xanax. Those just look like robot names. “I am Zoloft, and this is my battery-life-partner Xanax, welcome to our docking station. Please enjoy this dinner application that we downloaded for you. Oop. You spilled chips in your lap. Ha-ha. Do you understand the joke I just made, human? Because I was referring to the dinner application, I implied the contrast of microchips* , which are components of technology, and potato chips, which are organic components. Such an odd comparison should warrant amusement from you based on the juxtaposition of the items at hand. I believe humans commonly refer to this notion as ‘irony.’”
You’re sad. Or you fear. Or you feel out of place in social situations. Or you have a feeling of impending doom. That’s some serious-ass shit. Impending doom?! Wow. No wonder people have to take this medicine. Can you imagine what feeling doomed feels like? I mean, they make computer games about how destructive this feeling can be.
Robots have really come a long way. We’re all fucking robots. We’re all brainwashed into thinking that feeling, really feeling, anything is a sign of weakness.
This article appears in Dec 16-22, 2009.