2003-2019
Humans are silly (and I mean this in the best, possible way: I'm glad we are silly).
It's not that we build machines (and, before that, train animals) to do things and go places that we can't. That is sensible.
But we give them names. Real names, not 'Mars Exploration Rover' or 'Mars Science Laboratory', but Opportunity and Spirit and Curiosity. Even the ones that do get names that sound all sciency are constructed around sounding like a thing: MESSENGER or OSIRIS-REX. We tell stories about them, and do things like have birthday parties and figure out that if you tell the rover to turn this motor this fast it will sound like it is singing 'Happy Birthday'.
We even argue about the stories we tell: whether or not Opportunity 'wants' to go back to Earth because she is lonely, or stay on Mars because Mars is her home.
They become something like people, even if only in our minds, so we mourn them when they stop.
It's not that we build machines (and, before that, train animals) to do things and go places that we can't. That is sensible.
But we give them names. Real names, not 'Mars Exploration Rover' or 'Mars Science Laboratory', but Opportunity and Spirit and Curiosity. Even the ones that do get names that sound all sciency are constructed around sounding like a thing: MESSENGER or OSIRIS-REX. We tell stories about them, and do things like have birthday parties and figure out that if you tell the rover to turn this motor this fast it will sound like it is singing 'Happy Birthday'.
We even argue about the stories we tell: whether or not Opportunity 'wants' to go back to Earth because she is lonely, or stay on Mars because Mars is her home.
They become something like people, even if only in our minds, so we mourn them when they stop.