Humans Are Being Turned Into Robots
The two main reasons I believe modernity is making humans robots are that we must follow a series of repetitive, emotionless actions every day. This completely counters the self-creating, self-directed nature of being human. Our lives are so simple that we don’t even think about what we’re doing or how exposed. The modern world is full of programmed and conditioned robots. It was hard for me to know if the call-center agent is human or robot when I called bank recently. We lose our ability to feel human because of the predetermined schedules and tasks that are set.
The digital ecosystem controls us. The ecosystem takes vengeance on those who are unable or unwilling to undergo any form of negative transformation. My brother, for example, is a worker and does not need to think about how to complete his job, but he simply follows the instructions of his boss. Nobody is concerned about his happiness, desires or feelings. When he complained about his unhappiness, his boss said that he didn’t have any worries about what he felt. Keep at it. We’ve been trying to be another version and unconsciously all our lives. I don’t think we need robots. We are moving away from human-to-human communication and moving towards more robotic communication. Recently, Robot Sophia was interviewed by a journalist. Its communication abilities are limited to what it is told when programmed. This is what we are doing, trying to fit into 140 characters. Worse, we are losing the freedom to express our opinions in whatever way we like. It makes us use the most common words and phrases, which completely eliminates the individuality of communication. Similar to robots, we aim to achieve the best possible result as quickly as possible. IFTTT is an acronym that I learned about in psychology class. We have already implemented it. In other words, we automate our emotions and expressions. I have many shortcuts in my phone for commonly used phrases, such as “Fine” and “I’m so sorry”. I don’t want to waste my time when I talk with my friends on Whatsapp thinking about how to respond. Are they true reflections of my feelings and what I want to say? It’s not possible.
It is difficult to feel deep humanistic feelings such as empathy, sympathy or pity when we actually meet someone face-toface. But don’t worry. As human communication becomes more automated and botified, there will not be a need for it soon.
