I am a Robot: A Short Story

1499 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Narrative essay about death

I feel a jolt and come to my senses in a small box, my mouth sucking in air, my mind immediately running a list of what might have happened. Words. I know these words, somehow, although my mind has never spoken any of them before. I know definitions, I know context, I know grammar and syntax. These words dance in my head, in the dark and quiet of this box.
Box. Noun. A rigid typically rectangular container with or without a cover. An open cargo container of a vehicle. Coffin.
Am I in a coffin? I do not think that this is a coffin. It is too rectangular, and I am not dead, nor am I arranged like someone had thought I was dead. I am upright. But I do not remember anything of a past. I do not know if I have a future.
The box has a lid. I am unsure of how much time has passed, but I know this; I know that there is light flooding into this box. I see a face. A human face.
Humanity. Noun. The state or quality of being human. The state or quality of being generous or friendly to people or to animals. All humans.
Why can I not remember if I am part of this ''All Humans''? Why can I not remember anything? My mind has ran up a list of so many possibilities, but none of them are plausible. I open the mouth that I know I must have. It creaks as if my jaw has never been opened, or as if it is old. But as I do not remember anything, it must be that it has never been opened. Unless I only have amnesia.
Amnesia. Noun. Loss of memory often to brain injury, shock, tiredness, or illness. A blank spot in one''s memory. The overlooking, ignoring or forgetting of events that are not useful to one''s life.
No. No. Why am I in a box?
"It isn''t talking," says the face. Its lips move several seconds before I hear the words,...

... middle of paper ...

...e in sound between my lips and ears.
I find my way to the door without caring if my senses never work right. I just want to escape these people who think they are treating me well, but see me as less than humanity. I know what humanity is, now. It is not something that can be defined in several short words. It is all the flaws and perfection and feelings that make up lives. I am sure I do not have to be human to feel it. What is humanity, anyway?
Emilia races to hand me a bag of things and something else- a manual. Telling me how to act human, I am sure. She says that she is sorry. I feel wetness come from my eyes, and then I feel something more- a feeling of uncomfortable pain that makes my insides churn. It makes me want to run, to push my way out of this door and just live without any of this.
I take the bag. I push my way out of this door.
I run.

Show More
Related

  • Using Chunking to Increase Capacity of STM

    2614 Words  | 6 Pages

    Even our social interactions with others are dependent upon what we remember. In a sense it can be said that our identity relies on an intact memory, and the ability to remember who we are and the things that we have done. Almost everything we do depends on our ability to remember the past.

    Read More

  • Being Human in The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin

    567 Words  | 2 Pages

    What does it mean to be human? To most people it means being high on the food chain; or having the ability to make our own choices. People everywhere have a few things in common: We all must obey Natural laws, and we have preconceived ideas, stereotypes, and double standards. Being human is simply conveyed as human nature in “The Cold Equations”, by Tom Godwin, where the author shows the common ground that makes each and every one of us human.

    Read More

  • Humanity in Maus

    1544 Words  | 4 Pages

    Everyone has heard the saying, “Oh, the humanity!”, but what does it mean. What is humanity? Merriam-Webster defines humanity as “quality or state of being humane” or the “quality or state of being human”(“Humanity”). Humanity is being kind and compassionate and helping out your fellow man. Maus is a great tool to use to study humanity. Maus shows the depth and degress of humanity and inhumanity of humans. The novel also shows how people's humanity can change for better or for worse.

    Read More

  • Frankenstein and Blade Runner

    794 Words  | 2 Pages

    The notion of humanity is a picture intricately painted using the ideals and morals that define us as human beings in contextual society. The audience is influenced by the morals and values present through techniques in texts to paint their own image of humanity. Our ideals and morals that differ in texts through context, scrupulously shape our image of humanity

    Read More

  • Recollection In Retrograde Amnesia In The Movie 50 First Dates

    1454 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are two main forms of amnesia that this article will focus on and they will be retrograde and anterograde amnesia. Retrograde amnesia is “a deficit in memory characterized by an inability to remember past events” (Purdy, Markham, Schwartz, and Gordon 2001). This means that any memory before an accident or a surgery can (will be) lost. Retrograde amnesia is has puzzled many people. “The fact that information acquired before the onset of amnesia can be lost (retrograde amnesia) has fascinated psychologists, biologists, and clinicians for over 100 years.” (Squire, Alvarez 1995).

    Read More

  • Memory And Long-Term Memory: Different Types Of Memory

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    Amnesia, a severe long-term memory loss disease, is caused by damaged brain tissue. There are two different types of amnesia. Retrograde amnesia is also known as backward moving. This is when you have a hard time remembering the past, especially episodic memories. This occurs because of memory consolidation. Memory consolidation is the process of a new memory setting until it becomes permanently in the brain. If this process is disrupted, the memory may be lost (Hockenberry and Hockenberry page 265). Anterograde amnesia is also known as forward moving. This is when you are unable to form new

    Read More

  • Amnesia: Understanding its Forms and Impacts

    1329 Words  | 3 Pages

    Amnesia. What is it? For some, it is simply the partial or total loss of memory. Something that one wouldn’t think too much about. However, it is a very real and present problem. Unlike other mental disorders, amnesia can be experienced at any age.(S. Wood, E. Wood, and D. Boyd 200) Amnesia isn’t as severe as it is commonly shown in the media, but can still have major emotional impact on the people around an amnesia patient. Thankfully, there is plenty of research that better helps us understand what amnesia is and what causes it. From that research, we know that there are several forms of amnesia; anterograde, retrograde, and transient global amnesia. Anterograde amnesia is the inability to store new memories. Retrograde amnesia is the inability

    Read More

  • Retrograde and Anterograde Amnesia

    789 Words  | 2 Pages

    Retrograde and Anterograde Amnesia Darling, what did you say was Sue's number? " I don't remember stripping at Dan's birthday party last year!" No officer, I don't know what happened after the accident. I can't even remember my name. " Amnesia is the partial or complete loss of memory, most commonly temporary and for only a short period of time.

    Read More

  • Gender Differences and Memory

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    The human brain consists of many subsystems within the long-term memory. One of which is episodic memory. Episodic Memory is the remembrance of a phenomenal personal experience in terms of what, when, and where. This memory begins by retrieving information such as, words, objects, or faces; using this knowledge the episodic memory finds links and slowly transitions into recalling the complete memoir.

    Read More

  • Understanding Amnesia: Causes, Symptoms and Treatments

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    If one has amnesia, they will have difficulty recalling facts, events, places, or specific detail (Barclay, 2016). The details can range from what one ate this morning to their birthday. Hollywood has fabricated the idea that by suffering with amnesia the first signs of symptoms include losing self-identify and ability to function normally. However, that type of amnesia is very rare and in reality, one with amnesia will still retain your motor skills, such as your ability to walk, as well as fluency in any languages you speak, and self-identity. In addition, there are many different types of amnesia with a wide range of

    Read More

  • Memory And Long-Term Memory

    1701 Words  | 4 Pages

    Memory is vital to the functioning and even the survival of humans. Without memory, we could never learn from our experience and we would operate meaninglessly, without plans or goals. Motor skills and language ability would be lost and even the sense of personal identity we all have would be absent. There are many different factors that contribute to memory failures but there are also ways to improve it.

    Read More

  • Issac Asimov's I, Robot

    1302 Words  | 3 Pages

    Issac Asimov's I, Robot Asimov’s robots can be described as clumsy, hard-working, cost-efficient, soulless, strong, fast, obedient, human-made, a cleaner better breed, more human than man. Robots can be caring, gentle, self-aware, creative, intelligent and also evil, rebellious. Robots are made out of metal, plastic, aluminum, gears, bolts, wheels, sensors, memory chips, and other gadgets. TEXT STUDY Asimov’s book “I, Robot” is full of exciting short stories about human-robot relations. But the one story that really touched me was the first of the nine: Robbie.

    Read More

  • Human Nature in International Relations

    602 Words  | 2 Pages

    Human nature is that quality that sets us apart from other living things; it is the definition of what we are.

    Read More

  • I Robot

    1677 Words  | 4 Pages

    Artificial Intelligence, also known as AI, allows a machine to function as if the machine has the capability to think like a human. While we are not expecting any hovering cars anytime soon, artificial intelligence is projected to have a major impact on the labor force and will likely replace about half the workforce in the United States in the decades to come. The research in artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly at an unstoppable rate. So while many people feel threatened by the possibility of a robot taking over their job, computer scientists actually propose that robots would benefit a country’s efficiency of production, allowing individuals to reap the benefits of the robots. For the advantage of all, researchers and analysts have begun to mend the past ideas of human-robot interaction. They have pulled inspiration from literary works of Isaac Asimov whom many saw as the first roboticist ahead of his time, and have also gotten ideas of scholarly research done by expert analysts. These efforts have began to create an idea of a work force where humans and robots work together in harmony, on a daily basis.

    Read More

  • What Makes Us Human?

    1725 Words  | 4 Pages

    Humans are extremely complex and unique beings. We are animals however we often forget our origins and our place in the natural world and consider ourselves superior to nature. Humans are animals but what does it mean to be human? What are the defining characteristics that separate us from other animals? How are we different? Human origins begin with primates, however through evolution we developed unique characteristics such as larger brain sizes, the capacity for language, emotional complexity and habitual bipedalism which separated us from other animals and allowed us to further advance ourselves and survive in the natural world. Additionally, humans have been able to develop a culture, self-awareness, symbolic behavior, and emotional complexity. Human biological adaptations separated humans from our ancestors and facilitated learned behavior and cultural adaptations which widened that gap and truly made humans unlike any other animal.

    Read More

More about I am a Robot: A Short Story

Open Document