It has been ten years since the war ended. The world is finally getting back on its feet again. The war was long and difficult. Some civilizations were completely ruined. Others were still left to struggle, barely alive. Nobody ever predicted that it could or would happen. Who could have thought that the very devices that we created to help would turn against us? It makes one think about where the line should be drawn between what makes one human, what makes one truly alive, and what makes one neither of those. Can a machine be considered human? At first glance, any flesh and blood human being would say no, but when you think about it, an android has the same characteristics as any human being: they can think, create, feel emotions, pain, sadness. They are created by another being, and grow and learn much like a human would. And yet they are not considered human, much in the way that animals are not considered human. What constitues a human being? We separate ourselves from the animals with our large, complex brains and the way we can logically solve problems and make things. We have culture. We have hate. Murder. War. Animals do not have these things. Are these horrid feelings of hate and discrimination what makes us truly human? Apparently, animals do not have these discriminatory emotions towards other animals. So why does hate make us human? Androids, then, are more human than human. They are what humans want to be.
It has been a long time since I first met Derek. His time with me gave me a whole new outlook on life, one that doesn't make mankind look so good anymore. I can't believe he's gone. What kind of government would destroy a person simply because of their higher intelligence? Did Derek's condition make him any less of a man? Why would they end his already short and confusing life before he really got a chance to enjoy it, simply because he was different? I know now that mankind is self-serving and paranoid, wanting only what is good for the small percentage of the people in charge, what will fill their already bottomless wallets. A person's life is priceless: it is without a price because it is worth nothing. Lives are never considered, only how much money is. Why do we risk our lives and devote our entire being to stupid pieces of paper that are worth more than life itself? Perhaps this kind of thinking is why Derek had to die. The world was simply not ready for something new. Just because mistakes were made with androids in the past doesn't mean that we have to ignore the aspect of wonderful technology and just forget that it ever existed. Why doesn't mankind examine these problems in order to make the solutions easier the next time these situations arise, or even to prevent them altogether? Is it true that mankind made a mistake when creating what was supposed to be a better being? Or are we just afraid that we are no longer the dominant species? I cannot answer these questions. My mind, after all, is only human. |