Why TV robots are dumb

A funny bit of synchronicity — I found this xkcd comic, “More Accurate“, in my feed reader last night, right after I finished watching the final episode of “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles“. Such a shame TSCC was cancelled after only two seasons.

When we’re fighting high technology, we have to do more than just dehumanize (ha) our enemies — calling them “metal” in TSCC, “toasters” in Battlestar Galactica, and “just soulless machines” in both series.

We also have to turn around and “rehumanize” them. At least when in direct confrontation with humans, the machines have to slow down orders of magnitude, both physically and mentally; otherwise, as in Munroe’s comic, the “battle”, and thus the fictional series, would be over in a few minutes. Where’s the fun in that?