Some of Them Knew They were Robots

[Verbal Mike]

Being only half aware of a problem is often as good as being entirely unaware of it. However, sometimes being half aware of a problem is half as good as being completely aware of it.

There seems to be a prevailing notion around these parts that most people are robots, and unaware of it. This is probably correct.
There are two concepts very often discussed in this context. One of these is the Black Iron Prison, the other is THE MACHINE™. The BIP is, in a sense, the personal counterpart of the social MACHINE™. It is also much more than that, but let us stick with this definition for a moment.

I propose that many people are, in fact, somewhat aware they are robots. They are half-aware of what we call THE MACHINE™. Think of it as a silent undercurrent in the collective experience of our era. The reason their awareness is incomplete, the reason they do not consciously grok the immensity of THE MACHINE™ in its entirety, is that they do not understand the concept of the BIP. They do not realize how limited, yet malleable, human brains are. And they do not realize this applies to them, personally. ("YUO")

The important thing is that a great deal of people alive today are, in fact, aware that they are robots. They just don't understand the problem in-depth, and do not understand how it applies to them personally. Thus, many feel powerless to do anything about it, and let themselves be swallowed whole by THE MACHINE™. They submit, and go back to sleep.

Some, however, manage to resist. The realization that we are all automatons shines through in the art of recent generations - from Pink Floyd to Mr. Bungle, from Soylent Green to The Matrix.

So what?

Well, it might just be possible to piggyback on the existing sense of hopelessness. Instead of firing brutally and wildly, we can take our aim very carefully and look for ways to help wake up the weary ones, the ones not yet resigned to sleep.

I have no idea how to do this. I'm just saying, there may be more awareness out there than we thought.
Or more than I thought, at any rate.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Kittymittens!

[Verbal Mike]

Nigel reads very fast, ITT

[LMNO]

I like this, too.

It's akin to the problem RAW brought up; that you can read about something, but that's not the same as experiencing it.

So, some people will say, "yeah, I'm a robot/in prison/a cog in the Machine™", but that doesn't really mean anything to them, except they might act like they've "figured it all out".

[Golden Applesauce]

My view on this is that no one is a 100% robot 100% of the time.  Some actions might be done on autopilot, essentially letting the prevailing social currents decide for them, while others actions are fully free willed.  So Mr. X might accept one set of poisonous memes without thinking about it or even noticing, but make a conscious decision on another set.

[nostalgicBadger]

Awareness is irrelevant. Being a robot is convenient.

At the risk of making an unfair assessment, I would guess that most of us weren't particularly popular as kids, whatever we might be now. We were probably weird, and we probably got used to that. In a way, that can potentially make people more likeable as adults, but if you're not used to just embracing that you're weird, I imagine it can be a difficult thing to confront later in life.

Of course there are other factors. Not blindly accepting what society considers to be true takes a lot of effort. It takes a lot of thought. I don't mean at all to sound condescending when I say this -- different people have different priorities, and that seems to be what keeps society moving. However, as long as going with the flow is easier than having to think everything out for yourself, I don't think all of the awareness of people's potential for freedom is going to make the least bit of difference.

Maybe I'm wrong about all of this, but from my perspective, the best way to force freedom upon people is not enlightening them to the fact that they're robots, but instead making it more difficult to be one. Things like GASM are the best step I've seen in this direction, at least from this particular community.

[Rumckle]

Maybe I'm wrong about all of this, but from my perspective, the best way to force freedom upon people is not enlightening them to the fact that they're robots, but instead making it more difficult to be one. Things like GASM are the best step I've seen in this direction, at least from this particular community.

I agree, there are already enough artists, bands, writers, etc. telling society that they are robots, so I'm fairly certain that one more group telling them won't make a difference. But if we can make it easier to break out of their robot state, then we will probably make some difference. Even if it is just changing people who are aware that they are robots, but can't be bothered to do anything about it.

[Verbal Mike]

I was thinking more along the lines of riffing on existing, popular memes.

[Iason Ouabache]

Maybe I'm wrong about all of this, but from my perspective, the best way to force freedom upon people is not enlightening them to the fact that they're robots, but instead making it more difficult to be one. Things like GASM are the best step I've seen in this direction, at least from this particular community.

I agree, there are already enough artists, bands, writers, etc. telling society that they are robots, so I'm fairly certain that one more group telling them won't make a difference. But if we can make it easier to break out of their robot state, then we will probably make some difference. Even if it is just changing people who are aware that they are robots, but can't be bothered to do anything about it.

People already know what the problem is.  They are looking for solutions.

[Honey]

I may be totally misunderstanding the topic being discussed here so pardon svp if that's the case.  & not wanting to take the People as Robots metaphor too literally but  ...  I don't think about people being born in a robotic state.  Look around at little kids playing.  They're not robots.  They turn into robots as they learn to construct the bars (in the guise of ?).  & as they grow, they're encouraged to build their ever more involved prisons by all the ideas presented in the BIP.  I guess the point I'm trying to make is that it doesn't happen over night.  In fact, if it did, it would probably be so horrifying you wouldn't need to encourage a jail break!  One step at a time is how little kids become automatons. 

Awareness happens one step at a time too.  The first step is becoming aware, waking up! 

Happy Wake the Fuck Up Day! 

Then more steps to see how entangled you are in the The Machine.  More steps in denying all of these notions because it's too damn depressing.  More steps in seeing some of the humor in your predicament.  Getting angry about it.  Wanting to laugh 'cause it's better than crying. 

People do want solutions.  People even get greedy.  Building a better machine or prison.  One brick at a time.

[Jesrad]

People already know what the problem is.  They are looking for solutions.

I would tend to think along. Here in the SSRF people are getting desperate, but the sad thing is their despair pushes them further onto the road to servitude. It's kind of like watching headless chickens run around pretending everything's normal. "Clueless" might be more accurate than "headless" in their case of course (one can live without air for seconds, without water for days, without food for weeks and without a clue for ever), they bang on the BIP but all they get back from it is that it bangs back. Just like Mike didn't have a head to realise he was headless, they lack the clue to realise they are clueless.

If we're to deliver salvation, it should at least parody the look and feel of some solution they already think they know of. Or maybe parody the banging itself to rise awareness of how The Solution Is Actually The Problem.

[Verbal Mike]

Good words there, Jesrad. What's the SSRF? Russian Federation?
Also, I think you may have hit upon the reason why the PD was supposed to feel a little like a religious Holy Book.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

People already know what the problem is.  They are looking for solutions.

I disagree... I think some people might know there's a problem... but I see little evidence to support the notion that they have any idea what the problem actually is. Even if we discount the particular problem/solution paradigm we talk about here... I really feel that most, but not all of the folks out there don't have a clue beyond perhaps, knowing that something is wrong. Atheists think religion is the problem, Conservatives think Liberals are the problem, Liberals think conservatives are the problem, Fred Phelps thinks gay people are the problem, some gay people think Fred Phelps is the problem. Many people I know think there is a Problem... and they tend to define the Problem as "THEM" (those people over there), rather than themselves. I think back to the people I grew up with and I can tell you that most of them, not only seem to see 'the problem' as 'those people over there', but they also appear to have NO idea that they might be considered robots.

Hell, until I read RAW, Huxley, Alli, etc. I had no clue that my brain was making up shit, that it was constantly matching patterns and tricking me into thinking that was Objective Reality. The experiences I had in a matter of a couple years, coupled with the assortment of ideas I was exposed to, had a shocking effect on me. Before that time, I knew something was wrong, but I believed that 'something' was Satan, the ruler of this world and the billions of humans under his control.

And through the Lawl'o'Fives I saw a world that fit that belief.

Rat

[Voodoo]

Verbatim:  thanks for this post.  I like this analogy.  I often get a little lost in the "escape from the BIP" discussions.

IMHO, LOTS of people know they are robots. 

nostalgicBadger is correct in that, it is convenient (See: all those fucking hippies who wanted to change the world and are now corporate ceo's, see also: me).  It is SAFE to be a robot.  It is about our collective false sense of SECURITY.

Iason: I have to disagree: I don't think most people who are aware they are robots are looking for a solution.  I believe that they have chosen to be robots ("if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice" neil peart) and will FIGHT to maintain the status quo.

[nostalgicBadger]

Verbatim:  thanks for this post.  I like this analogy.  I often get a little lost in the "escape from the BIP" discussions.

IMHO, LOTS of people know they are robots. 

nostalgicBadger is correct in that, it is convenient (See: all those fucking hippies who wanted to change the world and are now corporate ceo's, see also: me).  It is SAFE to be a robot.  It is about our collective false sense of SECURITY.

Iason: I have to disagree: I don't think most people who are aware they are robots are looking for a solution.  I believe that they have chosen to be robots ("if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice" neil peart) and will FIGHT to maintain the status quo.

The quote you ascribed to Neil Peart was also written by Jean-Paul Sartre in the 1940's to explain the concept of 'anguish', an idea which was also hinted at by several existentialist writers before him. Sartre wrote a lot about anguish and absurdity, both of which are also strong Discordian themes. His essays are a bit lofty, but if you guys haven't read his plays at least, you should srsly consider it. George Bernard Shaw did a lot with these themes too around the time when Nietzsche was writing.