News Reflection – Poyu Ng

This piece of news is a about How a boy,Stepan, go to school without going out from his house. Stepan cannot go for school because of his immune system. His immune system is too fragile and he is not allowed to go out. He go to school by using a robot, he sit in front of the computer and control the robot and have interaction with the teachers and the classmates.

Stepan feels he is really in the class because he can totally control every details of the robot, and the classmates also call the robot as Stepan. I think this is good robot for the people who have problems of their legs or some other frail of the body, this can help them to use computer to learn, to work or do other things and have a normal life by using their own robot. They can just sit at home and have the class or work.

However, I think there also have disadvantages, because people can use an excuse and stay at home. However, you don’t know who is controlling the robot, although there is a webcam in the robot, you can’t see the other side, only the controller can see from the webcam because they have to control the robot where to go or see the surroundings.

Also, this raises the question about the identity. In this case, Stepan still is Stepan but is the robot is also Stepan? Is it the same person? The controller is stepan? We don’t know Stepan is really the controller, because they cannot see from the robot. Also, is Stepan always sitting in front of the computer and having lessons? Stepan have to use computer and the robot to have lessons, I think he is a cyborg because he must use the machines to have his normal school life. On the other hand, I think the people using iPhone or iPod or other machine in their daily life, they are cyborgs too, because they start to think these digital devises are a part of them if they forget to bring the devises they will feel something wrong.

In this digital age, people are going turns to be cyborgs or the defining of human and cyborgs are being blur. But, I still think I am human.

Source:
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-01-robot-russian-school-sick-schoolboy.html