E08 雷·布莱伯利致作家朋友：比起机器人，我更害怕我们人类

E08 雷·布莱伯利致作家朋友：比起机器人，我更害怕我们人类

课程导读

享誉盛名的美国科幻小说家雷·布莱伯利在谈及机器人时说，比起机器人，他更害怕人类。布莱伯利为什么这样认为呢？今晚，让我们一起体会他对科技的看法。

▍背景介绍
雷·布莱伯利（Ray Bradbury，1920 - 2012 ），美国科幻、奇幻、恐怖小说作家。布莱伯利高中毕业后，白天在街头卖报，晚上则在公共图书馆读书、写作。1943年，他正式成为全职作家。代表作有《冰霜与烈火》（Frost and Fire），《华氏451度》（Fahrenheit 451）等。除了小说，他在散文、诗歌、广播剧、舞台剧、电视、电影等方面也有涉猎。
科技的进一步发展在带来便利的同时，也使得一部分人忧心忡忡，机器人究竟会不会代替人类？科技所隐藏的弊端究竟有多大？所以当可以发声的机器人出现时，人们更加恐惧，而雷·布莱伯利的这封信则及时消除了人们的担忧，同时也指出了人类与机器之间的关系。

英文原文

Dear Brian Sibley:

P.S. Can't resist commenting on you fears of the Disney robots. Why aren't you afraid of books, then? The fact is, of course, that people have been afraid of books, down through history. They are extensions of people, not people themselves. Any machine, any robot, is the sum total of the ways we use it. Why not knock down all robot camera devices and the means for reproducing the stuff that goes into such devices, things called projectors in theatres? A motion picture projector is a non-humanoid robot which repeats truths which we inject into it. Is it inhuman? Yes. Does it project human truths to humanize us more often than not? Yes.

Why fear something? Why not create with it? Why not build robot teachers to help out in schools where teaching certain subjects is a bore for EVERYONE? Why not have Plato sitting in your Greek Class answering jolly questions about his Republic? I would love to experiment with that. I am not afraid of robots. I am afraid of people, people, people. I want them to remain human. I can help keep them human with the wise and lovely use of books, films, robots, and my own mind, hands, and heart.

I am afraid of Catholics killing Protestants and vice versa.

I am afraid of whites killing blacks and vice versa.

I am afraid of English killing Irish and vice versa.

I am afraid of young killing old and vice versa.

But...robots? God, I love them. I will use them humanely to teach all of the above. My voice will speak out of them, and it will be a nice voice.

Best, R.B.