Mar 07 2009
The Fundamentals of Love
Instead of tackling my laundry problem today (where I contemplated the feasibility of combining ‘lights’ and ‘darks’ in one massive cycle), I decided to browse the internet for news stories about whatever I felt like reading. A typical start to a bloggy day, I’ve come to realize.
There was a consistent theme to all of the stories I had found/been sent without provocation. It seems this had been a week where the ideals of love are surfacing again and again in the broad spectrum of human (and even cybernetic) emotion.
I get a sense that the Case of Caylee Anthony isn’t going to go well for the defense. In Orlando, Casey Anthony, the 22-year-old mother of slain infant Caylee is in hot water, as new evidence keeps turning up against her. I hear often enough from many people that a mother could never kill her own daughter, even if pictures of skeletons are discovered on her computer. A mother’s love is unrivaled, despite the mom’s most recent google searches include “neck breaking” and “household weapons.” And even if Casey Anthony was the uncontested citizen of the year, there must certainly be an explanation for her mother’s frantic series of 911 calls, indicating her certainty that “it smells like there’s been a dead body in the damn car.”
An infant was crying in terror at my place of employment this very evening, thrown into an incomprehensible fit of babyish screaming at the display of fire on the hibachi grill (I work at a Japanese steakhouse, and not a place which arbitrarilly presents fire to small children). As loudly as I proclaimed to my coworkers that I wanted that “little crap factory to shut its stupid fat face,” never would the thought of ending its short life have even entered my mind masquerading as a viable solution.
It is well known that human beings are capable of sensing the emotion known as ‘love,’ and direct that feeling in the form of various benevolent actions towards others. I have expressed this feeling retributionally with old girlfriends in the form of ‘not complaining while being forced to sit through “The Notebook,”‘ and ‘letting her choose which generic ethnic food theme we’ll go out for tonight.’
But can the feelings be overwhelming? A love-based need or dependency wearing a human being out? That may be the case with John Gosselin, star of TLC’s John and Kate Plus Eight, who has been allegedly separated from wife Kate Gosselin and their teeming throngs of children. Instead, John was cited by InTouch and RealityTV Magazine as having spent a lot of time drunkenly partying with local college volleyball teams. Too much love perhaps breeds unbearable amounts of responsibility.
Yet another thought; Is it possible for inanimate objects (like tumbleweeds, forinstance) to express a feeling like love towards human beings? Can it be validated? Would a robot be a better replacement for a murdering mother or an on-the-brink father of way too many children?
Scientists and researchers as Toshiba’s Akimu Robotic Research Institute have found a way to program robots to feel the equivalent of the human emotion called ‘love.’ It’s frightening enough that parents can experience blowouts, but I believe it is far more terrifying that the robot these scientists have developed will often become quickly attatched to what or whomever it sees, and in some cases, will physically not permit the target of its affection to leave its sight or immediate area.
Take for instance, the newest intern at the lab. When it came time for her to leave one evening, “Kenji (the robot) refused to let her out of his lab enclosure and used his bulky mechanical body to block her exit and hug her repeatedly.”
Said Dr. Takahashi, the project lead;
“Despite our initial enthusiasm, it has become clear that Kenji’s impulses and behavior are not entirely rational or genuine.”
Touche, Dr. Takahashi. Touche. A circular argument indeed.
That is a decidedly badass robot name. However, it feels like the inevitable outcome of every ‘robot has feelings’ movie/tv episode I’ve seen. I feel like Will Smith or somebody is going to try and teach the poor little robot about “loving enough to let them go.”