Contemplating a Future with Robots

 

Robots have been part of Pop culture throughout my life.  During my childhood, on TV there were sci-fi movies such as "Forbidden Planet" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still" along with such 1960s TV series as "Lost in Space."  When I was a university student, the first "Star Wars" movie was released.  My first computer was the Kaypro II, which first went on sale in 1982.  There occurred in 1989 the invention of the Internet/'World Wide Web' making possible the sharing of data immediately and universally.  The Web quickly became prominent during the 1990s.  'Artificial Intelligence' is an expression that has become more familiar in recent decades.  Today in 2018 some recent news reports and articles about advances in robot technology include:
 

"Jellyfish ROBOTS to patrol the oceans . . ."

"Do robots dream of Prada?  How artificial intelligence is reprogramming fashion"

"Robots in the battlefield: Georgia Tech professor thinks AI can play a vital role"

"AI and optics combine to produce picky robots"

"Are Hosts, Replicants, and Robot Clones Closer Than We Think?"

"Human rights for robots?"

 "Lost in Space" 1960s TV show cast

 

Can there really be such a thing as 'artificial intelligence'?  The words seem contradictory to my spiritual understanding.

The recording artists known as Kraftwerk released the song "The Robots" in 1978.  I began hearing the group's works on the radio in the early '80s.  One of their songs is "Computer Love" from the album "Computer World" (1981) that has proved portentous in relation to current dating trends and the purposes motivating one for utilizing the Internet as a source for engrossment and, yes, romance.  In 1983 "Mr. Roboto" was the tangled subject for a hit song from the rock group Styx.  More than two decades later, "Computer Love" inspired the Coldplay song "Talk" (2005).  An Internet search reveals that there have been dozens of Pop songs about robots.

Previous blog articles that are relevant to considering the two selected videos presented in this post are "J. Craig Venter Institute: 'First Self-Replicating Synthetic Bacterial Cell'" and "'We' and the Mediums of Oneness".

 

"Cheetah Greetbot — The world's first reception robot" video link (defunct)

"Kraftwerk - The Robots (live)" video link

Four decades have passed since "The Robots" was first heard.  After witnessing the permutations of Pop music over the course of these decades, sometimes these days I'm left bewildered by the superficiality and narcissism of some of the current songs.  It seems evident that there is a great number of people who have no idea about any of the subjects presented at this blog that could help them expand their metaphysical awareness.
  
Recently at my gym, I noticed the upbeat song "The Middle" (Zedd, Maren Morris, Grey).  Listening to the lyrics of the song, what came to mind was the instruction about 'the middle' spoken by Direct Voice medium Leslie Flint's transcendental communicator 'Mickey'  (as mentioned in previous articles 1, 2).  A clearer and longer audio recording of the source seance is now available at YouTube: "Mickey animals and life force 22 June 1972".  The intelligence of Mickey is just one example of transcendental communication resources available online.  There are 23 articles at this blog about Leslie Flint and Mickey, including "Leslie Flint's Life as a Direct Voice Medium" and "Metaphysical Lessons of the Leslie Flint 'Direct Voice' Recordings". 

"Mickey animals and life force 22 June 1972" video link

When one contemplates the limitations of Earth life, it becomes apparent that the human experience is designed to engender spiritual and metaphysical reflection; however, upon observing the popular culture of our time it's obvious that metaphysical subjects are not among the usual topics valued by the commercial news media.  There is a long tradition of concentrating on politics, entertainment, sports and various catastrophes with an "If it bleeds, it leads" rationale.  Always available for consideration regarding social and political perspectives are transcripts of transcendental communication sources and information derived from studying the documentation of spiritually revealing 'paranormal' cases.  The awareness of divine Providence offers blessings of stimulating reflection for everyone. 
 
This month an article in Popular Mechanics was headlined "Why the U.S. is Backing Killer Robots".  Some people show a complete lack of awareness about aspects of behavior and understanding that one can articulate with such expressions as 'assumed imperatives' (1, 2) and 'karma' (1, 2).
 
To end this article on a proverbial 'lighter note,' just prior to posting this article I was driving and noticed that the license plate of the car in front of mine had the letters AINEWS.  Intrigued, I conducted an Internet search for these letters and found a matching commercial website offering "Adult Industry News."  I'm reminded that pornography is yet another source of interest that can distract one from allocating time for spiritual development.