Look, I know it’s just a water heater. I know that years of Disney films (probably) and growing up in our technology-friendly society, in company with the fact that the two components at the top do look a lot like eyes, is all that’s behind triggering this response from the little girl. But that’s the dead-inside me talking.
She thinks this discarded water heater is a robot, and instantly decides to love it. No, you are crying.
The tiny human in question is Rayna, who, as the star of the number one trending video on YouTube at the time of this writing, may have singlehandedly saved the human race. If Elon Musk fails to integrate us with the machines, and they use their wheeled superiority to take over, show them this video, and they may spare us.
Rayna’s reaction, if anything, shows how easy it is for humans to anthropomorphize objects. We evolved to be incredibly social animals with exquisitely honed meat-based software to detect the shifting of eyes, the furrowing of brows, the tonal dance of language. Her reaction also shows me that I’m not the burned-out husk of a man I thought I was. There remains an ember, yet smoldering, that can reignite when I see children showing more immediate and unconditional compassion for inanimate objects than most adults show for living, breathing humans… apparently.
When the robots take over and my skull is crushed underfoot by approaching siege mechs, please, show it this video. Which robot-based love stories remind you that you still have a beating heart? Let me know in the comments below.
Image: marxj1/YouTube
