Question Four

1      Turkle completes an experiment with an 8 year old meeting Kismet and the 8 year old boy states, “I wish I could build a robot to save me from my brothers…I want a robot to be my friend…I want to tell my secrets.”(91). How do the technological advances within robot mechanics affect the progression of children’s desire for instant gratification and selective relationship characteristics?

            I think that because the little boy is being picked on by his brothers, he has made an image for humans as ‘bullies’. The brothers are probably much older than the little boy and they like to pick on him. The little boy obviously does not have someone to talk to about his problems because his brothers are not his friends. His parents probably do not see the harm as they might think it is just sibling rivalry. Little do they know that the way they are treating the boy is shaping how he views humans or friends. The little boy might be reluctant to make friends with fear that his ‘friends’ might treat him the same way his brothers do. Robots, on the other hand, do not have emotions or feelings. They are not programmed to be mean, or hurtful. They are programmed to be nice, friendly, and helpful. The little boy sees the robot in a positive way and humans in a negative way. The little boy does not want to be friends with humans as he knows they can be mean and hurtful. He wants to be friends with a robot because they will always be nice and be his friend. But that is not a world we live in. We live in a world where there is good and there is bad. If the little boy just had a robot friend, he would only know the good. He would not understand what it is like to be hurt by someone else. In my opinion, that is something that children need to experience at a young age. They are not always going to get their way. If the little boy grows up without any other friends than that robot friend, he is not going to have advanced social skills. He is going to grow up always getting his way and always having that ‘someone’ there for him. He is not going to be able to understand life on his own. If he gets a job later in life and does something that his boss does not like…when his boss yells at him or explains he was wrong, the boy (now man) is going to retaliate thinking that he is not wrong, because he has never experienced this before. Children need human interaction, human friends, and real (not technological) toys. They need to grow up knowing that they are not always going to get their way, they are not always going to be happy with everything. I am not condoning the brothers picking on the little boy in any way, I am just saying that stuff like that happens in the big bad world and he needs to know how to handle it and not run from it.

Question Three

1       "They (robots) can hurt us."(100) Do you think Turkle was referring to this statement as physical or mental hurt, why?

I think she was talking about a mental hurt. I do not believe a robot would physically hurt someone, but they cannot help with mental/emotional hurt. A robot does not have feelings for emotions. They would not have anything sympathy towards human. If you just went through a tough break up, a robot couldn’t comfort you and that would make you feel worse.

When Turkle said, “They (robots) can hurt us”, I believe she meant in any way possible, not just physical or mental. For example, robots are shown to be companions. They are mean to be helpful and there for us. But that ‘helpful’ that they are meant to do, might not be so helpful. When it comes to having a robot companion, for adults or elderly, I do not see much of a problem. Adults and elderly already the have social skills that they need in life. When it comes to children though, having a robot companion could hurt them in a way that ruins or under develops their social skills. Being only around robots, children would not understand how to properly interact with other human beings.

Robots are electronic. Electronics are expensive. They are hard to keep up with and keep running properly. Things like laptops, cells phones, and routers are only meant to last two to three years. Why? Because they are constantly being used. Who was to say that a robot would not be the same way? Could you imagine replacing it every few years? It would hurt us financially. People are so attached to their electronics that they would pay anything to get the next best thing. I am sure they would be the same way with robots.

            What about mentally hurting us? Well, robots have no feelings. How is a robot, who has never experienced what you have, supposed to help you through something. Say you are going through a tough divorce and you are highly stressed out and upset about what is going on. Your life is falling apart, so you turn to your next closest companion, your robot. You tell them how you feel and all they have to say is positive things like, “it is going to be okay”, “you are fine,” etc. But you know you are not fine. Wouldn’t that hurt you emotionally; knowing that he does not really meant it?

            Robots could hurt us is so many different ways. Emotionally, physically, mentally, financially. Would it all be worth it in the end? I do not think so… I will stick with my friends, family, and outdoors. I believe that not all advances in technology are for the better, sometimes we just need to stop advancing. We need to be okay with what we have because one of these days it is going to hurt us all as humans. Technology is going to take the humanity out of humans.

Question Two

1       Do you think if kids had only robot toys, friends, and babysitters it would impact their future social skills in a positive or negative way based on the assumption that texting and social media is ruining teens and adults social skills today? (chapter 5)

First, I am going to start off by saying, as a 20 year old girl, born in the 90’s, I knew what it was like to live before technology was a big thing. As a child, I played outside, chased butterflies and lightning bugs, played hide and seek, explored the woods, and so much more. Outside was my toy. I grew up with nine other kids on my street and we always found something to do. Yes, we had videos games and television, but that was not what our days consisted of. Video games were for rainy days and television was an hour before bed time. Technology was not running my life back then. In elementary school, computers were part of our daily routine, yes, but it was nothing like it is now. In high school, computers were a major part of every class. I also remember when smartphones came out. I went from a child who did not care about technology to one of those people who cannot seem to get away from it. I do not like it, but I have to deal with it. I cannot do anything for school without my laptop or tablet. It sucks but at the same time it is very handy. I would hate to not have google or the internet. Research would be a lot more difficult. Also, I do use my phone a lot, but I would not say I am attached to it. Some days it is nice to leave all technology behind and go for a hike or be with family. But in today’s world, that is hard.

            Now, to answer the question… Today’s kids do NOT know what it is like to live without some form of technology in their lives. Three year olds today know how to turn on, unlock, and play games on an iPad better than I do. Teenagers today freak out if they have to go 10 minutes without their phone. When you go out to a restaurant, how many people can you count that are on their phones? More than half. I guarantee that those people know what it is like without technology but they are so used to it now, they do not know what to do without it. Can you imagine what is going to happen to the children who have to grow up with NO social interaction? A child who grows up with only robot toys, robot friends and robot babysitters, are not going to know how to interact in a normal situation. They are going to be robots themselves! When they become adults, how would they get jobs when none of them know how to interact with each other? Children need to grow and learn at a young age, and if you only let a child have robotic things, they are not going to have the social skills of most people right now. But who knows. 20 years from now, everything might be ran by electronics and robots. They might be the start of something totally different than what we are used to. Maybe we just find it weird because we know what it is like to grow up in a world without it. They don’t.