A day earlier than usual this week (Tues not Wed). Of course, we are not robotic followers to a set calendar are we? Which leads us nicely into the subject of how, perhaps, our humanity, creativity and individuality has been stripped from us through work patterns imposed, relatively recently (industrial revolution) to make us function-orientated and task-delivering people machines. Or not...
The industrial age was an age of increasingly prescribing and automating the processes by which our society produces things. Automation is a good way of efficiently achieving more predictable outcomes with a degree of accepted variation, and requires that both the people and the machines involved follow the process consistently.
Over time, this has pervaded most aspects of society. For example - Have you ever had the feeling after speaking to customer service that it wouldn't make much difference if an AI took over (if they haven't already)? This is not because the person at the other end is inherently "robotic" and could not do more, or do it better. It's the result of the way the process is laid down and enforced both by the human organisation and the computer systems.
We may claim to be in a "Post-Industrial" age... But is that mostly a veneer of sophistication in technology coupled with a reduction of opportunity for individual and impactful ways of exploring/creating/achieving things, and supplemented by a bombardment of stimulation to train us into robotic responses?
This session is focused on the following questions:
- To what extent is it true that society has been training people to be increasingly "robotic" in behaviour and response?
And:
- What should we strive for in society to prevent or mitigate this?
- What should we strive for in ourselves?
Anyone can attend this session. No experience in philosophy or knowledge of the subject is required in advance. Just come along and enjoy. People come along from a wide range of ages, social and educational backgrounds etc. Almost no-one has a philosophy degree. Occasionally, attendees will be asked to watch, read or listen to a short piece of material in advance of the session (as the 'stimulus' for discussion), but this will be minimal and will be made clear in the description of the session.
See our Format of the Evenings for more of an overview and schedule for our sessions. There are some notes of advice on how to discuss at How Should I Participate in a PIPs Session page.