Where Are the Robots Taking Us? Part 2 (http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/69871.html) By Richard Adhikari -TechNewsWorld If you look to the movies for answers regarding the Western world's attitude toward robots, the results may be confusing. Sometimes they're pudgy, bleeping sidekicks to the hero; other times their high-tech, cybernetic sociopaths. Robots in the real world aren't nearly so sophisticated, but their advancement has already raised a number of ethical questions. Is it abnormal to love robots? Do people who love robots, adopt them as friends or members of the family, give then names and bring them along on family vacations have an unnatural fixation on robots? What about soldiers who are prepared to give their lives for their units' bomb detector robots? Is that a symptom of battle fatigue? Of loneliness? Of traumatic stress disorder? Or are all these people just being human? If babies can anthropomorphize stuffed toys, why can't adults anthropomorphize robots, especially those that seem intelligent or resemble us physically? Remember how everyone loved R2D2 because he was so cute and made humanoid sounds? Do people who feel affectionate towards their robots demonstrate what sociologists call "transference?"
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