In a previous blog entry I explored the conflict between
robots and cyborgs (
see here). Upon further thought though I have come to the
conclusion that I would be routing for the cyborgs in that fight because, as
the title of this blog entry would imply, all robots are evil. That’s right.
ALL OF THEM. Some science fiction may have fooled you into believing that there
are noble and decent robots out there but that is a lie. All robots are evil.
The first evil robot, and in fact the one who inspired me to
write this entry, is none other than Pixar’s WALL-E. To me, WALL-E is the
perfect example of an evil robot that has lured humans into believing he is
sweet and innocent, no threat at all. But if you watch the film that bares the
character’s name you can see the clues that show what a truly sick bastard
WALL-E is. First thing you notice is that WALL-E is all alone on the garbage
covered earth. Why? Why is WALL-E the only surviving WALL-E robot? Well that question is answered very quickly when
you see that WALL-E scavenges parts from all the other dead WALL-Es littered
around the planet. HE CANIBALIZES THEM!
Which leads me to believe that there was a time when WALL-E and his
brothers were working hard to clean up the planet but the first time WALL-E
lost a screw or a part of him broke down, he turned on one of his brothers. The
other WALL-Es didn’t break down. They were murdered. By WALL-E Prime. That
could explain his romantic flirtation with EVE. He doesn’t see a love interest,
he sees a chance at an upgrade.
As evil as WALL-E is, he is not quite the threat to humanity
that this next robot is. WALL-E was only a threat to the other robots he was
forced to live with. But Lieutenant Commander Data of the Enterprise-D is a
potential time bomb just waiting to go off. While many episodes of Star Trek:
The Next Generation portrayed Data as a model Starfleet officer, there was one
particular two-part episode in season 6 and 7 that showed the true threat Data
could be. After an encounter with a group of Borg, Data feels emotions for the
first time. The problem is though these emotions make him want to be a
psychopath. In the second part of this episode, Data joins with his brother
Lore (an android that looks exactly like Data) who is able to bestow upon Data
even more emotions. Now with these added emotions, Data becomes a bit of a
dick. He locks up Captain Picard, tortures his best friend Geordi and tries to
kill his fellow crewmembers on the Enterprise. Now the Enterprise crewmembers assume
this was all just because Data was under Lore’s control but if you watch the
episode Data has complete free will. He questions Lore, talks back to him, he’s
just so addicted to feeling emotions that he performs horrible deeds to get
them. Data’s a heroin addict who will do anything to get a fix.
But truly the most evil robot of all is one beloved by
fanboys and fangirls around the world. The most evil robot of all is R2-D2.
Throughout two Star Wars Trilogies, this little droid (the word for robots in
the Star Wars Galaxy) had been present for the most traumatic events in that
Galaxy. He also seems to be much more aware of his surroundings than any of the
other characters. Especially if we are to consider the prequels truly are led
to the world we see in the original Star Wars Trilogy. In that case, Artoo is
possessed of knowledge and abilities that he deliberately hides from his
compatriots. In fact when you observe Artoo’s actions throughout the films, he
seems to only act out of a sense of self interest. Many times throughout the
films Artoo comes through with a last minute save, fixing whatever
technological problem that is presented. But he is only fixing those problems
to save his own ass (if droids have asses that is). The one time he fails to
perform a technological problem (during the attack on the shield generator in
Return of the Jedi) it is a situation where he is in no danger but his friends
are likely to be executed. Convenient he chooses that moment to screw up.
Humans are untrustworthy. It only stands to reason that any
creation of humans that has our same emotions and thoughts would be just as
untrustworthy. But just as robots are physically superior to humans, it seems
likely that they would also be superior to us in the atrocities they could conceive.
I would just like to take this opportunity to bow before my machine overlords
ahead of time.
In a previous blog entry I explored the conflict between
robots and cyborgs (see here). Upon further thought though I have come to the
conclusion that I would be routing for the cyborgs in that fight because, as
the title of this blog entry would imply, all robots are evil. That’s right.
ALL OF THEM. Some science fiction may have fooled you into believing that there
are noble and decent robots out there but that is a lie. All robots are evil.
The first evil robot, and in fact the one who inspired me to
write this entry, is none other than Pixar’s WALL-E. To me, WALL-E is the
perfect example of an evil robot that has lured humans into believing he is
sweet and innocent, no threat at all. But if you watch the film that bares the
character’s name you can see the clues that show what a truly sick bastard
WALL-E is. First thing you notice is that WALL-E is all alone on the garbage
covered earth. Why? Why is WALL-E the only surviving WALL-E robot? Well that question is answered very quickly when
you see that WALL-E scavenges parts from all the other dead WALL-Es littered
around the planet. HE CANIBALIZES THEM!
Which leads me to believe that there was a time when WALL-E and his
brothers were working hard to clean up the planet but the first time WALL-E
lost a screw or a part of him broke down, he turned on one of his brothers. The
other WALL-Es didn’t break down. They were murdered. By WALL-E Prime. That
could explain his romantic flirtation with EVE. He doesn’t see a love interest,
he sees a chance at an upgrade.
As evil as WALL-E is, he is not quite the threat to humanity
that this next robot is. WALL-E was only a threat to the other robots he was
forced to live with. But Lieutenant Commander Data of the Enterprise-D is a
potential time bomb just waiting to go off. While many episodes of Star Trek:
The Next Generation portrayed Data as a model Starfleet officer, there was one
particular two-part episode in season 6 and 7 that showed the true threat Data
could be. After an encounter with a group of Borg, Data feels emotions for the
first time. The problem is though these emotions make him want to be a
psychopath. In the second part of this episode, Data joins with his brother
Lore (an android that looks exactly like Data) who is able to bestow upon Data
even more emotions. Now with these added emotions, Data becomes a bit of a
dick. He locks up Captain Picard, tortures his best friend Geordi and tries to
kill his fellow crewmembers on the Enterprise. Now the Enterprise crewmembers assume
this was all just because Data was under Lore’s control but if you watch the
episode Data has complete free will. He questions Lore, talks back to him, he’s
just so addicted to feeling emotions that he performs horrible deeds to get
them. Data’s a heroin addict who will do anything to get a fix.
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