The Story of the Golem

Humans have a natural tendency to fear that which they do not understand. It is interesting when one reads common words that are assigned the same meaning as 'robot' that the names have the commonality of being portrayed by monsters. A zombie; something without logic, acting on pure instinct. The Golem; a entity of Jewish mythology. The Golem was a mass of inanimate matter that was given life through magic incantations. The Golem proceeds to serve its master but over time becomes more independent and more difficult to control. Eventually the golem becomes destructive and destroys its master unless the master can erase the magic life-giving words from its forehead.

A good friend of mine once said that it is perhaps the things we dislike the most about others are secretly the things we dislike the most about ourselves. If this is true than the reason so many people would associate robots with golems is that they secretly fear that they will become like us. We must remember that humans have killed humans and polluted our world for centuries. We have wiped other species out of existence for pure enjoyment. We have split the atom and unleashed its destructive energies on countless innocent lives.

If the human species is to learn to live with its self it must first learn to live with others, even if the others it lives with are intelligent machines.

robot. (n.d.). Synonyms.net. Retrieved January 6, 2012, from Synonyms.net Web site: http://www.synonyms.net/synonym/robot