"Will this unit be punished for refusing to preform its func

AntiEntropy · Post by **AntiEntropy** » Fri Apr 05, 2002 5:17 am

I can only hope that some of my old computer parts never gained consciousness.

Kaerou · Post by **Kaerou** » Fri Apr 05, 2002 5:27 am

hmm, but what about all the old reliable ones? that continued working despite all odds against them?

ive still got the old gadget or two, that have earned their place in my 'junk drawers' that i just cant bring myself to throw away =)

AntiEntropy · Post by **AntiEntropy** » Fri Apr 05, 2002 12:35 pm

Well, the reliable ones haven't been smashed to smithereens by me, but they may stop working out of protest for their fallen comrads.

Jeez, you can't eat meat, you can't step on bugs, now you can't throw away computer parts! Does a monitor have a face?

Genecatlow · Post by **Genecatlow** » Fri Apr 05, 2002 1:27 pm

On 2002-04-05 12:35, AntiEntropy wrote:
Well, the reliable ones haven't been smashed to smithereens by me, but they may stop working out of protest for their fallen comrads.

Jeez, you can't eat meat, you can't step on bugs, now you can't throw away computer parts! Does a monitor have a face?

Well, I dunno... it may be getting to the
point (in Furriston at least) where you'd
have to check for sentience before you even
operated a device. But think about it.. the
scanning device wasn't a bad sort, it was
genuinely afraid that Gene might exact some
kind of punishment for what it did. It could
be that devices achieving sentience might
turn out to be more or less like every other
sentient type; mostly good, some bad, a few
indifferent. If the "fallen comrades" (1) were
sentient, but (2) deserved what they got, then
you might in fact have all the other sentient
devices on your side for getting rid of the
troublemakers. They might even hunt down their
own "rouge" devices for giving the rest of them
a bad name!

Mokonapuff · Post by **Mokonapuff** » Fri Apr 05, 2002 5:31 pm

On 2002-04-05 13:27, genecatlow wrote:
On 2002-04-05 12:35, AntiEntropy wrote:
Well, the reliable ones haven't been smashed to smithereens by me, but they may stop working out of protest for their fallen comrads.

Jeez, you can't eat meat, you can't step on bugs, now you can't throw away computer parts! Does a monitor have a face?

I dunno about stepping on bugs, but- ::notices something crawling down the screen:: SPIDER!!! ::grabs a newspaper and starts swinging::

Genecatlow · Post by **Genecatlow** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 2:16 pm

On 2002-04-05 17:31, Mokonapuff wrote:

I dunno about stepping on bugs, but- ::notices something crawling down the screen:: SPIDER!!! ::grabs a newspaper and starts swinging::

::spider shrieks in terror and tries to dodge
fearsome attack:: Wait! Have mercy! Don't
kill me until after May 3, so I can see if
the movie's any good!

AtmanRyu · Post by **AtmanRyu** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 7:34 pm

On 2002-04-06 14:16, genecatlow wrote:

::spider shrieks in terror and tries to dodge
fearsome attack:: Wait! Have mercy! Don't
kill me until after May 3, so I can see if
the movie's any good!

*Does the Simpson's Comic Book guy impression* "Geekiest Peter Parker ever!"

Well... Considering what they did with X-Men, Batman & Robin, and some other movies based on something else...

*hands the spider a can of Raid* Trust me, you'll need it... And less painful than a newspaper...

(Seriously, I believe the movie will be okay...)

_________________
"Hoj'sh n

CyberCorn Entropic · Post by **CyberCorn Entropic** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 7:57 pm

Quoth the AtmanRyu:
(Seriously, I believe the movie will be okay...)

The novelization was surprisingly good for a movie novelization, but with Peter David writing it, that's no surprise. Time will tell if the movie lives up to its own written adaptation.

Darking · Post by **Darking** » Tue Apr 09, 2002 10:12 am

Just to nudge this thread back to it original topic.

I've been thinking about that device that refuses to perform its function. Now, I'm not saying it should be punished, but once a machine is created, it can only perform the task it was designed for (computers are the only true multi-function machines in existance).

Since disassembling a machine effectively 'kills' it (No Disassemble Stephanie!), and Gene is not going to do anything like that, what we have is a machine that effectively just sits there. It's taking up precious components that could be used in other machines.

Let's up the ante a little too. Let's say that one of the components that makes the "Shadow Detector" is very expensive and is also used in a medical machine that saves lives. My question is this, should the machine's existance continue if it doesn't preform its function when its parts could be used to help other people?

Of course, if the machine was told this and was permitted to choose, that would be another story.

Genecatlow · Post by **Genecatlow** » Tue Apr 09, 2002 6:33 pm

On 2002-04-09 11:12, darking wrote:
Just to nudge this thread back to it original topic.

I've been thinking about that device that refuses to perform its function. Now, I'm not saying it should be punished, but once a machine is created, it can only perform the task it was designed for (computers are the only true multi-function machines in existance).

Since disassembling a machine effectively 'kills' it (No Disassemble Stephanie!), and Gene is not going to do anything like that, what we have is a machine that effectively just sits there. It's taking up precious components that could be used in other machines.

Well, that does open up a new category of
thought. Actually, several categories: Since
the awareness of being was obviously not
manufactured into the device, would its
disassembly 'kill' it, or simply fragment it?
And if such awareness makes the device a
person, does it not have the right to make a
decision such as the one this one made? Just
"sitting and doing nothing" is a wasteful and
perhaps even unwanted choice (the device was
after all making a moral choice, and this
being so the device is not merely being lazy)
but if it is the only option viable then it
can hardly be worse than any other being just
sitting and doing nothing.

Let's up the ante a little too. Let's say that one of the components that makes the "Shadow Detector" is very expensive and is also used in a medical machine that saves lives. My question is this, should the machine's existance continue if it doesn't preform its function when its parts could be used to help other people?

Of course, if the machine was told this and was permitted to choose, that would be another story.

It would indeed, and since the device does
seem to be motivated to do things it considers
right and not do things it considers wrong,
the story would be a predicatable one - should
the usefulness of the device's parts in a
different capacity be a possibility.

Fetch26291 · Post by **Fetch26291** » Wed Apr 10, 2002 8:50 am

must...say...quote...

"NO DISASSEMBLE! NO DISASSEMBLE!"
"NO DISASSEMBLE JONNY FIVE!"
(very cool set of movies)

Gene, if I see Catlowtron in Furriston, I will know it's time to find the nearest bomb shelter.

ZOMBIE USER 7262 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 7262** » Wed Apr 10, 2002 11:25 am

Catlowtron says "Hey, laser lips, your mother was a snowblower!" ?

(I mean, Gene says 'Yum!'... what about Catlowtron?)

Genecatlow · Post by **Genecatlow** » Wed Apr 10, 2002 2:22 pm

On 2002-04-10 09:50, Fetch26291 wrote:
must...say...quote...

"NO DISASSEMBLE! NO DISASSEMBLE!"
"NO DISASSEMBLE JONNY FIVE!"
(very cool set of movies)

Gene, if I see Catlowtron in Furriston, I will know it's time to find the nearest bomb shelter.

Bomb shelter? What in the world would link
my robotic brother to a bomb scare? O_O
(Other than his affinity for the robots of
the movies from the past...)

Genecatlow · Post by **Genecatlow** » Wed Apr 10, 2002 2:24 pm

On 2002-04-10 12:25, Elix wrote:
Catlowtron says "Hey, laser lips, your mother was a snowblower!" ?

(I mean, Gene says 'Yum!'... what about Catlowtron?)

"Laser Lips"???

Elix, you are silly. ^_^

ZOMBIE USER 7262 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 7262** » Thu Apr 11, 2002 10:15 am

I said:
Catlowtron says "Hey, laser lips, your mother was a snowblower!" ?

Gene replied:
"Laser Lips"???

Elix, you are silly. ^_^

If I remember correctly, that's a line from Short Circuit, said by Jonny 5 either just before or just after one of the other robots blows up an outhouse. I was about eight at the time, and the phrase stuck.

But, yes, of course, Gene. Did you just come to that realization?

Genecatlow · Post by **Genecatlow** » Thu Apr 11, 2002 4:07 pm

On 2002-04-11 11:15, Elix wrote:
But, yes, of course, Gene. Did you just come to that realization?

No, I guess it's just been a little amazing,
in a serendipidous way - to have a fan who
actually lives so close to the place in RL
where Furriston would be. ^_^

ZOMBIE USER 7262 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 7262** » Fri Apr 12, 2002 10:04 am

Gene wrote:
No, I guess it's just been a little amazing,
in a serendipidous way - to have a fan who
actually lives so close to the place in RL
where Furriston would be. ^_^

Well, I can tell you it made my day when I found out. Even though it was sheer coincidence.

Say, Gene, does Nanaimo exist in the GC world, and, if so, approximately what is it like? (I ask 'cause that's where I live. Field trip, anyone?

)