Thread: We Are Not Special...We are merely Machines!!!

Please Read My Essay and Look for any corrections that can be made.

See if it all flow.

Any type of feedback would be greatly appriciated!

We Are Not Special

In the article “We Are Not Special” Rodney A. Brooks argues how people are merely machines that act according to a set of specifiable rules. Many people bristle at the word “machine,” because of there desire to be “special” and to differentiate themselves from mere robots. A robot is a mechanical device that sometimes resembles a human and is capable of performing a variety of often complex human tasks on command or by being programmed in advance. But in true reality every part of the human body is a machine if it’s physically or mentally.
Brooks states, “The body consists of components that interact according to well defined (though not all known to us human) rules that ultimately derive from physics and chemistry” (241). Meaning that the body has parts with specific tasks that allow the body to function like a well oiled machine. Within a human these parts are made up of base units which in turn act within the system. Such as the liver, an organ in the digestive system, that takes a product, breaks it down and recycles it. This is a function that has been programmed into the human body and is not thought about; it’s just done, along with many other systems in the human body. But just as machines aren’t perfect humans aren’t either, sometimes organs don’t work correctly. Like the pancreas, an organ in the endocrine system, that sometimes doesn’t work hard enough to produce enough insulin or sometimes works to hard and produces too much insulin in tune causing problems. If not enough insulin is produced a person becomes diagnosed with type 1 diabetes meaning there body isn’t breaking down sugar that is needed for the body to function, causing the person to manual give themselves insulin to keep them stabilized and functioning. And if too much insulin is produced this can lead to type 2 diabetes, such as being over weight because of the over production of insulin which affects the fat cells making a person gain weight. The cure for type 2 diabetes is simply watching there weight by eating correctly and exercising. Human are machines, an intricate natural system or organism, such as the human body.
Along with humans being machines physically we are also mentally machines because our mind is programmed from birth. From simply being programmed to cry at birth, there are certain things that are “programmed” into humans to help us communicate and function with our surroundings. For example eating, someone didn’t come along one day and tell us that we need to eat to survive, we simply became hungry and cried until we were feed. But as humans grow they learn new functions and characteristics that are saved into our “programming.” Just like Furbies (a cuddly owl like creature) it was programmed to function and act certain ways to get things such as food. Furbies at first only speak “Furbish” but learn to speak English as they get older. They hold many similar characteristics with humans such as they play games, communicate with other Furbies, sing, get hungry, learn new information and say “I love you” (“Loving Technology,” Turkle 255). This make humans look like a gaming system with a memory card. Humans start life with a limited amount of knowledge, which allows us to communicate with our surroundings. But as we go through the game of life and accomplish different tasks and advance to new levels our knowledge grows. This new knowledge saved in our brain, “memory card,” is used to help us communicate with the world around us.
With humans always wanting to believe that there special and not see themselves as machines that have systems that keep us functioning and a “memory card” that retains information there un-accepting of anything that’s isn’t human. Brooks clearly states “ Indeed, the many arguments that abound about why a machine can never have real emotions, or really be intelligent, all boils down to a denial of one form or another, that we are machines, or at least machines in the conventional sense” (243). Brooks is simply trying to point out that humans are machines and have emotions does not disqualify a human from being a machine. While he understands that there are arguments that we are more then conventional computers, he still stands by humans being machines. While I agree with Brooks and how we are machines, I will continue to see humans as machines that can be fixed and programmed. While humans at birth are born with a limited knowledge at an older age they begin to louse that knowledge, from all timers. Machines will begin to get older and information will become harder to recognize.

Your essay seems fine. Maybe you could provide the counter-argument that humans do not "crash" in the same way that computers do.

the counter argument is all forms of art

robots don't do art

Cellar door took the words from my mouth. You proved it yourself, (and not very well, grammatically speaking)

The flow is pretty decent though you could tighten up on tenses and spelling.

I can see how someone could make a comparison between humans and machines but certainly not go as far as calling humans machines. Machines are reproducable in sets of relative 'same' ness. Every human is different from another. Try that in a factory. Countless of billions of different human sets of filters on the world... it's inconceivable to anyone not trying to reduce humanity to its simplest base form. We are MUCH more than that and even the idiot who wrote the book you're quoting qualifies.

If we are machines then we should be able to assemble one of us sans traditional methodology.

I wonder how, exactly, the author defines 'life'. What is it that animates dead tissue?

--> I'm not going for harsh critical analysis here, but it seems rambling and disjointed. You've got the basic idea, but you seem to be fighting to keep them in some kind of logical flow. Tighten your sentences and use appropriate pronouns to specify complete ownership of the idea being proffered, your's and those you quote.

In the article “We Are Not Special” Rodney A. Brooks argues how people are merely machines that act according to a set of specifiable rules. Many people bristle at the word “machine,” because of there desire to be “special” and to differentiate themselves from mere robots. A robot is a mechanical device that sometimes resembles a human and is capable of performing a variety of often complex human tasks on command or by being programmed in advance. But in true reality every part of the human body is a machine if it’s physically or mentally.

[REVISION]
In his article, "We Are Not Special" author Rodney A. Brooks argues that people are mere machines acting according to a set of specified rules. Many people bristle at being compared to machines, respulsed by the concept of humans as robots because they desire to feel special and distinct. However, robots and humans share in common the ability to perform complex physical and, for the lack of a better term, intellectual tasks, and can experience longevity or early demise at the mercy of the environments in which they exist and the attention they receive. Humans, on the one hand, are naturally dependent on a diverse organic infrastructure and at the mercy of their own choices. In kind, robots are dependent on the ingenuity, creativity, mechanical prowess, and attentiveness of their human creators. [END REVISION]

--> This will segue you into your next section where you seem to be describing the body and its parts, but you need to balance that with the robot's parts too if you want to continue your comparison of the human as machine. <--

Brooks states, “The body consists of components that interact according to well defined (though not all known to us human) rules that ultimately derive from physics and chemistry” (241). Meaning that the body has parts with specific tasks that allow the body to function like a well oiled machine. Within a human these parts are made up of base units which in turn act within the system. Such as the liver, an organ in the digestive system, that takes a product, breaks it down and recycles it. This is a function that has been programmed into the human body and is not thought about; it’s just done, along with many other systems in the human body. But just as machines aren’t perfect humans aren’t either, sometimes organs don’t work correctly. Like the pancreas, an organ in the endocrine system, that sometimes doesn’t work hard enough to produce enough insulin or sometimes works to hard and produces too much insulin in tune causing problems. If not enough insulin is produced a person becomes diagnosed with type 1 diabetes meaning there body isn’t breaking down sugar that is needed for the body to function, causing the person to manual give themselves insulin to keep them stabilized and functioning. And if too much insulin is produced this can lead to type 2 diabetes, such as being over weight because of the over production of insulin which affects the fat cells making a person gain weight. The cure for type 2 diabetes is simply watching there weight by eating correctly and exercising. Human are machines, an intricate natural system or organism, such as the human body.

-->You seem to slip off into bulkiness here. It just doesn't flow and you lose your comparison.--

[REVISION]
"The body consists of components that interact according to well defined (though not all known to us humans) rules that ultimately derive from physics and chemistry." (241, Brooks) The body consists of base units, task-specific organs, functioning individually but contributing to the overall performance of the human system. As in a robot, should one part fail another will not function to its full design capability. If healthy and in working order, human organ function continues without conscious thought on the part of the human, just as a robot's circuitry is fired according to its programming. What happens when a part fails? Take the pancreas, an organ in the human endocrine system, as an example. Failure to completely execute its programming in the right sequence can result in the production of too much insulin, or too little. If not enough insulin is produced, the human may aquire a condition known as Type 1 Diabetes. An injection of insulin is needed to restore and help maintain the organ's function. In a robot, too little of its needed fluids will result in system lag and eventual burnout and complete system failure. If a human gets too much insulin, the end result is hyperglycemia and can result in coma and even death if not treated. For the robot, too much fluid will can result in slippage of mechanical parts, uneven wear, and an inability to complete commands successfully. Humans, like robots, function best when the delicate balance of health is properly maintained, but care must be taken to maintain the programming as well as the mechanical parts.
[END REVISION]

Along with humans being machines physically we are also mentally machines because our mind is programmed from birth. From simply being programmed to cry at birth, there are certain things that are “programmed” into humans to help us communicate and function with our surroundings. For example eating, someone didn’t come along one day and tell us that we need to eat to survive, we simply became hungry and cried until we were feed. But as humans grow they learn new functions and characteristics that are saved into our “programming.” Just like Furbies (a cuddly owl like creature) it was programmed to function and act certain ways to get things such as food. Furbies at first only speak “Furbish” but learn to speak English as they get older. They hold many similar characteristics with humans such as they play games, communicate with other Furbies, sing, get hungry, learn new information and say “I love you” (“Loving Technology,” Turkle 255). This make humans look like a gaming system with a memory card. Humans start life with a limited amount of knowledge, which allows us to communicate with our surroundings. But as we go through the game of life and accomplish different tasks and advance to new levels our knowledge grows. This new knowledge saved in our brain, “memory card,” is used to help us communicate with the world around us.

[REVISION]
Humans, like robots, begin life with some specific programming. Fundamental human programming isn't limited to unconscious operation of internal organs and physical responses, but it includes the ability for humans to feel, speak, reason, learn, and interact with their environment in many ways. For example eating, it is an unconscious need that requires a conscious response. Someone didn’t come along one day and tell us that we needed to eat to survive, but we learned as babies that when hungry crying would sometimes result in our being fed. Robots, though incable of cognitive learning, are programmed to respond to data stimulus, just like Furbies (a cuddly owl like creature) programmed to function and act certain ways to get things such as food. Furbies at first only speak “Furbish” but learn to speak English as they get older. They hold many similar characteristics with humans such as they play games, communicate with other Furbies, sing, get hungry, learn new information and say “I love you” (“Loving Technology,” Turkle 255). In a sense, humans are very much like a gaming system albeit with a limitless memory card. Humans, too, start life with a limited amount of knowledge, but as we interact and experience our envrionments we master the game of life, advancing to higher levels of knowledge.
[END REVISION] --> Unable to tell above about the "furby" information if it was a specific quote or simply a paraphrase. <--

With humans always wanting to believe that there special and not see themselves as machines that have systems that keep us functioning and a “memory card” that retains information there un-accepting of anything that’s isn’t human. Brooks clearly states “ Indeed, the many arguments that abound about why a machine can never have real emotions, or really be intelligent, all boils down to a denial of one form or another, that we are machines, or at least machines in the conventional sense” (243). Brooks is simply trying to point out that humans are machines and have emotions does not disqualify a human from being a machine. While he understands that there are arguments that we are more then conventional computers, he still stands by humans being machines. While I agree with Brooks and how we are machines, I will continue to see humans as machines that can be fixed and programmed. While humans at birth are born with a limited knowledge at an older age they begin to louse that knowledge, from all timers. Machines will begin to get older and information will become harder to recognize. [/FONT][/SIZE]

[REVISION]
Humans want and need to believe they are special and distinct. It is repulsive and unacceptable to them to be likened to machines, robots, mechanical in nature whose minds are little more than common circuitry. Brooks states “ Indeed, the many arguments that abound about why a machine can never have real emotions, or really be intelligent, all boils down to a denial of one form or another, that we are machines, or at least machines in the conventional sense” (243). Emotion alone does not disqualify humans from bearing the label of "machine." Brooks admits that arguments exist showing we are more then conventional computers, but still contends that humans, at a basal level, are machines. I agree with Brooks, that we are machines, and I will continue to see humans as machines, capable of being being programmed, and capable of being fixed when fixing is needed. [END REVISION]

Just an addendum to my revisions shown below (though heaven knows it's long enough) but I'd just like to proffer my opinion on Mr. Brook's concept of humans as machines.

Pthpppppppt!!