It’s a science fiction world, that’s for sure. But who can tell the science from the fiction?
On this day dedicated to the (fictional?) Saint of Love, the morning’s electronic mail includes a link from my brother Bill to a newspaper story about a hotel in Nagasaki that will be staffed by robots. A sidebar warns gloomily that the end is near for clerical workers because robots can do their jobs – and do them better (photo above).
I am prepared to take the writer’s word on that. When I call Customer Support to get help for some computer glitch, I must talk to a machine before I can be connected to a human (if I’m lucky). Somebody lost their job to that machine.
Yes, middle class jobs are vanishing, as technology makes white-collar workers obsolete and stingy taxpayers support savage cuts in the public service workforce. (I have yet to hear about a robot who could run into a burning building and save someone, however. And I understand firefighters are among those being thrown out of work.)
Many factory jobs became obsolete a while back, thanks to robotic development. And even lowly housemaids are being displaced. My daughter Grace has a robot that cleans her floor in Miami, for example.
And if you don”t have a romantic i
nterest to help you celebrate St. Valentine’s Day, there are robots for that, too (photo at right).
I am awestruck by the genius of folks who can create these modern marvels. Are we really that smart, I wonder. Or is there a smart sliver of humanity that gets smarter while the rest of us stay dumb or get dumber?
How dumb are we? How’s this item from today’s Newser.com for example:
A newspaper correction issued by the Lexington Dispatch in North Carolina caught fire on the Internet for reasons that will be obvious once you read it: “Boyd Thomas’ letter Saturday contained an error in the headline. He does not believe President Obama is the Antichrist, who will come after the seven kings, according to Revelation. He thinks Obama could be the seventh king.”
Imagine that. Barack Obama is a Biblical scourge? Surely, there are more diabolical manifestations in today’s world? How about ISIS burning that pilot alive? Is that Satanic or what?
John Kerry says it is. He said recently that ISIS is not an Islamic movement but “the order of Satan.”
I wouldn’t argue with John Kerry about that. ISIS could very well be something the Evil One cooked up.
I challenge the smartest scientists to prove that no evil force exists on this earth. Indeed, I would not be surprised if the scientists come up with proof of his existence.
But it seems bizarre that anyone would think Revelation’s dire prophecies are manifest in someone as innocuous as Barack Obama, someone so thoughtful, so meticulously fair, so exasperatingly reasonable…
I would think the anti-vaccine crowd present a greater danger to the world. What does Revelation have to say about them?
And what about those folks who adamantly insist that prevailing climate change theories are fiction? Look at all the snow in Boston, they say. If the world really is getting warmer, why doesn’t the snow melt?
You think it could be Satan dumping all that snow on the Northeast and keeping it from melting? Perhaps he’s a Republican and you know how faithfully the Northeast votes Democrat.
Or could it be Obama’s fault? If he really is the Seventh King, who knows what he’s capable of?
Click to read about the new Tokyo hotel.
