The Robots are Coming

I hope we can all get along… (Get Lost You Stinking Robot by melora)

Just over a month ago, a hostess named ChihiraAico was working in a department store in Tokyo. She made a very capable worker, dressed in a traditional kimono and politely providing information and directions to customers, able to communicate in Japanese, Korean, English and even Japanese sign language. But the most remarkable thing about her was that unlike all the other assistants in the store, she wasn’t human. She was a robot.

An Argument for Escapism

escapism n. the tendency to seek distraction and relief from reality.

I hereby go on the record to (politely) disagree with the Oxford English Dictionary (’96 edition), because while I do indeed use many forms of media to distract myself from reality, I don’t do it to get ‘relief’. I am not depressed or stressed, I’ve not suffered any recent trauma and nor do I shy away from working a forty hour week or being with my family.

What I am, more often than not, is bored.