Three Reasons Why I Like WALL-E

WALL-E: He's not just for children
(and overweight starship captains).

1.  WALL-E doesn’t worry about his effectiveness.  He doesn’t get bored with his job.  He doesn’t give up, even after all the rest of his coworkers have gone away.  He just keeps on doing his job.  In this way, he remains relevant, and makes a positive impact on his world.

2.  When WALL-E finds something that intrigues him, from a plastic spork to a videotape of a forgotten musical to the case of a diamond ring, he takes it home with him.  By constantly finding new things to study and enjoy, he remains excited by all that life has to offer.

3. WALL-E doesn’t worry about appearances.  He doesn't even spend much time cleaning himself.  He acts to remain functional, and that’s good enough for him.  In his home, he arranges everything, from his necessities to his treasures, for utility and ease of use, not to impress others.  He orchestrates a system that works for him, and this keeps him productive and invigorated.  

In my own life, I always have lots of things I want to do.  But instead of just doing them, I often take too long debating the effectiveness of carrying out given actions.  Or I grow bored with a given task, and shift to something less important.  I also spend too much time worrying about what others think of me, or how they will regard my work.  I need to keep focused upon my goals, and keep working toward their completion, regardless of how others may judge me or my accomplishments. 

Others may see him as a rundown, obsolete robot, or merely an animated character in a children’s movie, but WALL-E inspires me to strive harder, and to be more comfortable with myself.  In so doing, he reminds me of the person I wish to be.

If you've watched the movie lately, you might take a moment to contemplate what WALL-E might have to say to you.  (If you cannot think of anything, I can only suggest that you watch the movie again).   

Dragon Dave

My Robot Advisors

My phone has been ringing off the hook these past few weeks.  When I answered, I heard a prerecorded endorsement for a political candidate.  These politicians and citizens, who have never met me, felt sure that I shared their concerns about a particular issue.  Some of them referred to me by name, as if I was a long-time friend.  While such messages are known as robocalls, I know they're not really made by robots.  Instead, they came from a machine called an autodialer, which uses complex algorithms to impersonate people and personalize messages. 

Yet the name is evocative, and I could not help but wonder: how might my favorite robots vote, if we allowed them to?  Or better yet, how might they advise me in navigating the confusing promises and propositions?

Even if I could understand R2-D2’s noises, I’m not sure how interested he’d be in elections.  He seems more task-oriented.  Give him a problem, and R2-D2 will find a way to tackle it.  This makes him great in a crisis, but when it comes to complex decision-making as to what’s best for society, I have a feeling he’d be less help.  Unfortunately, his friend C-3PO wouldn’t be a great help either.  He’d be too worried about the worst-case scenario of any proposal.  I think he’d also be too busy calculating the odds against any particular candidate keeping his or her promises to assess their relative merit.  While I could use C-3PO as a sounding board to confirm my own anxieties, I’m not sure he could help me vote for a person or issue. 

On the other hand, WALL-E is a true innocent.  As such, he would grasp the hope associated with every issue and politician, and argue that I should vote for those who promise the most positive change.  Seeing the best in everyone and everything, I’m sure he would urge me to endorse a host of radical agendas each election cycle.  While I love him, I know that I cannot ignore my suspicions regarding the potential dangers surrounding each candidate or issue.  Further muddying the waters is the knowledge that too much change isn’t a good thing.  Instead of delivering a promised utopia, too many grand ideas, schemes and revolutionary changes to how we organize and run our society might actually bog down our political, social, and financial systems, making it impossible to get anything (whether it be good, better, or worse) accomplished.

So, in this scenario, I suppose I would have to turn to K-9.  Assuming that Doctor Who or Sarah Jane doesn’t need him, I think he could be of great help.  His personality seems ideally suited to analyze the propositions and the candidates.  With his ability to assess strengths and weaknesses of proposals, and the records, personalities, and associations of candidates, K-9 could advise me how best to vote, given my concerns about what I’d like to see occurring in my society.  Yes, give me K-9 on voting day: I cannot imagine a better advisor.

The sad thing is that, regardless of how I vote, who comes into power, and what proposals become law, the result always seems to a constant slew of half-measures.  At best, these changes allow our society to continue functioning.  But usually, they leave us no better off, and often they affect us so adversely that I find myself closing my eyes, clutching my head, and wishing I hadn’t voted in the way I did.  It is then that one robot's voice rises above the rest.  “Danger, Will Robinson!” cries the General Utility Non-Theorizing Environmental Control Robot B9 (usually referred to The Robot in “Lost in Space”).  “Danger!  Danger!”

Regardless of whom I chose or how I vote, every day the evolving political process prompts B9 to repeat his warnings.  Sometimes I wish Dr. Zachary Smith would reprogram B9 to only alert me to the most pressing dangers.  But then, I don’t need K-9 to warn me against trusting Dr. Smith.

Dragon Dave