Sure Opportunity was just a robot and didn’t actually have any emotions or anything and everything human-like it did was created by humans but like.. what a boring, joyless and pessimistic way of viewing the world. Personally I think it’s beautiful that so many people care about a robot, despite it not being a real live living thing. It shows something about humanity that, especially in the face of a lot of negativity, I think is really nice. So if you don’t feel sadness of Opportunity that’s fine but other people have a right to those emotions.
all of science fiction: human beings will resent A.I and robots and will never trust them
real human beings: I had to apologize to my roomba for stepping on him today I felt so bad he cleaned my whole house and I just stomped on him
Scifi 2019: Elite police officers are trained to hunt down robots that are forbidden from returning to Earth. They call it “retirement” as a euphemism.
Real 2019: The entire internet mourns a beloved Mars rover that gave a haunting final message as its 15 year life came to an end.
The most beautiful thing about Oppy’s death is the human reaction. I didn’t know about Oppy until today, but I felt for her. And so did so many other people. Her final message to Earth is gut wrenching in its humanity. She is just a machine, but the joy and love that was put into her making, into her journey, and into her death made her so much more. She is an incredible reminder of the good that exists in the world, especially when things are so dark. And that is beautiful.
ifesbob 