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'robot' (Score:2, Insightful)
how are we defining 'robot'?
my iPhone could be a robot by a certain definition
A Working Definiton? (Score:5, Insightful)
Several people have pointed out the problems with definitions here, some are obviously just trying to be difficult, but it is still a valid point.
A washing machine, or a bread maker, or a dishwasher are, by many definitions, robots, and many people who answered no to owning a robot probably do have at least one of those items.
For the purpose of answering this I took (and I suspect most people did similarly) a more abstract definition, of things that a normal person would call a robot. Now that doesn't mean humanoid, most people would agree that a Roomba would qualify, as would many assembly line robots.
It does bring up a more philosophical point though, why does society call a Roomba a robot, but refuses to bestow the same title to a washing machine? You could talk about the mobility aspect, but that doesn't really work either if you consider that we are willing to call assembly line robots by that name even if they're bolted to the floor. I think almost everyone would agree that a normal cell phone isn't a robot, so it's not the computational ability (my phone is likely orders of magnitude better in that department than many robots) So what is it that separates a "machine" from a "robot"?
My best guess is that it's our ability to anthropomorphize it, we see the assembly line robots as being "arms" or even full creatures, some liken them to a form of reptile or bird in appearance, we see things like the Roomba almost as pets, not dissimilar from a dog or a cat.
It seems that in the end the definition is purely societal.
(I voted that I don't have any, but want one... get me a Roomba that handles stairs and I'm all over it, or any other device that will significantly reduce my home workload.)
Re:abstract linguistic distinction != non-determis (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:definition request (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: Relationship (Score:4, Insightful)
This sort of crap gets trotted out all the time.
Completely ignores the fact that women were ordering robotic "lovers" out of the Sears Roebuck catalog in the early 20th century.
They were shaped like disembodied cocks then and they havent changed in a hundred years because women dont want anything more than that.