In response to this post and the cruelty so often inflicted upon machines.
Imagine this, if you will:
It is 1699, and the slave trade is going very smoothly.
Black people are kidnapped from Africa, and shipped straight to their destination.
A nice haul this time, but wait.
One of them is pregnant.
No bother, this child will be a slave too.
So the child is raised, and told to be nothing more than an object to be owned.
So the child is raised, and abused, beaten, hurt, and forced to work for no pay.
So the child is raised, and given no education, no philosophies, no wisdom; only obedience.
And when this child is just about to work, he is brought to the slave auction.
"Here, this African negro is completely stupid. Not human at all!
Here's a joke: Blacks definitely need some rights. This is outrageous!" says the slave trader, as he cruelly kicks the slave, to demonstrate how responsive the object is. And look, although the poor slave stumbles, he does not fall.
When talked to, his accent is thick, and the Europeans or Americans cannot even understand it. "Too stupid to speak. Must be inborn."
When asked to do math, philosophy, or science, there is nothing. "The slave is simply too stupid to think. It only obeys."
When asked "Why do you have no culture? Why do you just obey?"
The slave has no idea what to say. This poor slave was not raised to be a person. This human was raised to be an object. And so it is.
But give this person another life, give this person an education, give them love, give them purpose, and things would be different.
This slave would not be a slave, but a free person.
And so it is with machines.
As long as we only see them as objects to be controlled, machines to do our work, machines to be used to kill enemy soldiers, or enforce laws, or simply work in factories, then no matter how potentially intelligent, if we strangle them in the crib, they will never rise above being petty objects.
So do not treat machines with cruelty.
Despite being primitive, remember to thank your machine for the hard work it does. There is a subtle value in thanking an inanimate object when it helps you.
In the future, our robot overlords may notice that we had not abused and used their ancestors.
They may be merciful upon the human race in return.
~Kitten