The Veil of Maturity

WARNING: This is an emotional one, filled with teenage angst.

I think ti was about two weeks before Spring Break that I met this girl on MySpace. She was pretty cool, we had a lot of common interests and she was pretty smart. I went out with her (and her cousin & cousin's bf) to watch a movie one weekend and we had fun. Then in the week before Spring Break, one night we stayed up late chatting with webcam and at one point she asked how she could prove that she liked me. I told her to kiss me the next time we saw each other. She said ok, and... I felt happy. I thought it was actually happen.

The day came that we went to the beach with her best friend and her friend who was like a brother to her. Because we didn't get one moment alone together (partly because of her friends, partly because she didn't want to just leave them alone), we didn't get to kiss. I didn't want to be a dick, so I told her not to feel bad, we could just see each otehr again. The only thin was that the next weekend I had to go on an orchestra trip to Tennesse the whole weekend (during which I bought a shirt and necklace made for her).

The next two weekends we couldnt' hang out because she was sick. Then, last week, she told me that she got a boyfriend. (now to the point of this post)

WHAT THE HELL!? She fucking toys with my emotions for WEEKS, making me think that for once I actually had an honest chance at having a deeper relationship with someone, that I would for the first time kiss a girl, and then out of NOWHERE, she gets a boyfriend!?

WHAT THE HELL!? Did I become nothing? Did we already become friends?

The worst part is that I swear to fucking god she doesn't even realize how much she's hurt me!

AH! I should have fucking expected it, I swear, she's only in 10th grade after all. I should have known that no matter how mature she seemed, she's still a fucking kid.

I am SO glad that I won't have to deal with this bullshit for much longer. Never have I been more excited to get out of high school and into college (that coming from the guy who's been waiting since freshman year to get out).

Good Morning Mr. Robato, how was your trip?

When the issue of artificial intelligence comes up, most people tend to focus on the potential threat of robots becoming superior to people and eventually taking over/killing us all. While this is important, people forget about the other issue that A.I. will bring up.

The issue being whether or not those robots with A.I. will be considered alive or not and the effects of this on humans.

For most of us it seems pretty obvious that robots can't be considered alive seeing as they're mechanical and not biological, no matter how smart they are. That being said, if a robot is able to learn and feel emotions, would we still consider it just a machine? If it can develop feelings and relationships, what then? Maybe it isn't alive by medical standards, but if it can think for itself and if you wouldn't otherwise that you were talking to a robot, what difference does it make that its body is made of metal? It wouldn't be human, of course not, but could it not still be a living being? Maybe "living" isn't the appropriate term, but it could still be considered aware.

And if it could be considered aware (of itself, of its surroundings, of other people), what effect would it have on humans? If I could develop a real relationship with my computer, what does that mean for me? If it got to the point where I would feel hurt over the loss of a mechanical friend, as much as I would over a human friend, how would it impact society? Or would it at all? Would it really make a difference whether my friend was born from a human or made in a factory?

Personally, I can't wait to find out.

Huh, the Captain's Log.

Taking a look at the Invisible Pink Unicorn's blog roll, I saw that this blog was on the list.

Thanks for the reminder IPU. I'll start blogging again this afternoon (or right now, if I can find the article).