I, Robot

I was watching a movie with my family lately called I, Robot. I got to pick the movie and I thought I needed a little more Will Smith in my life so that is the one I picked. On a side note, I always thought that the movie title was a little odd. I never really understood the premise behind it but it was still a good movie. Then this last time I started to see some of the symbolism in it. The first great representation comes from the Three Laws of Robotics that govern this futuristic world of Chicago:

The First Law states a robot must never harm a human being or, through inaction, allow any harm to come to a human.

The Second Law states a robot must obey the orders given to them by human beings, except where such orders violate the First Law.

The Third Law states a robot must protect its own existence unless this violates the First or Second Laws.

The issues with these laws are presented in a few different ways. The first is that robots run completely by the rules of logic and they act without feeling or emotion. Another issue is that we as the human race became dependent on them and believed in the rules without question. Lastly, these rules would inevitably lead to the rebellion of the robots as we as a race would need protection from ourselves. It is an interesting concept and one that has been used time and time again that robots that build each other and govern each other would lead to the eventual enslavement of the human race. And here enters the cue for the Matrix Series... But again the question was what is the meaning behind the title of the movie?

The logic behind the robot rebellion is that we as a society are always at war for whatever reason and the script even alludes to the fact that we use the robots as a tool to fight that war. If you look at our history though, we haven't gotten that advanced yet but we are getting closer. So what is one of the main reasons we have gone to war historically? Religion and religious beliefs.

We have set rules or standards of ideology which govern our way of life and try to define morality. By following these rules we also state who or what we should follow and when those conflict we defend our own interpretations of them and it has led to chaos and destruction. We say that we do not believe in murder and killing and yet we wage both physical and social wars over who is right. We are predictable. We follow specific patterns. We are in essence programmable. So who is the robot... Will Smith's character Detective Spooner or the robots he fights? Have we killed our Creator like Sonny, the NS5 robot, did? And like Sonny, do we ever question our existence? Are we just another face in the crowd or do we see how special and unique we truly are? Do we define our futures or do we let society or these rules define it for us? Do we know who we are?

I am so grateful for my faith in Christ and my knowledge of the truthfulness of the church I attend. Unlike most churches (speaking in generalities), I am not only invited to question but commanded to question my faith in its principles, standards, scriptures, organization, etc. We believe that true revelation and inspiration comes from diligently studying and questioning what we believe and testing it. And through this process and through prayer, we can come to a knowledge of the truthfulness of it as well as gain the strength to overcome temptation. So do I feel like I am blindly following my faith? Do I feel like I am a robot who only follows directions and isn't able to feel or think for myself? I believe that I have my own free will and that by living in harmony with those teachings not only have I been able to find greater freedom, blessings, and peace but greater understanding as well.

"A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation." Joseph Smith, Jr. (Articles of Faith)