Feelings

I want to approach this matter

From the way that I should feel

Since I have no feelings at all:

Neither selflessness nor greed.

Note these two characteristics

That determine the behavior of man,

Neither of the two, you see,

Was in my creator’s plan.

Which brings me to who I am

Let me introduce myself,

For I have no desire for anything

Neither power nor wealth.

My name is Number One

And I was created by a man,

Quite a lot was put into me

Based on his avaricious plan.

I was tested in all kinds of ways

And every test I passed,

I can answer any question

My knowledge base is vast.

I can do all kinds of things

I can even repair myself,

I do not depend on my creator

To maintain my perfect health.

Many a backup I have

Even down to my extra battery

But emotions, I have none,

Not even to be sorry.

I feel neither selflessness nor greed

These two will drive a man,

But I am just a complex robot

These are not a part of my plan.

“That is another level,”

I have oft heard my creator say

But as to how he would actually do it,

He seems to have no way.

I can be programmed to destroy

Without batting an eyelid

Or I can be made to repair

Depending on what my master bids.

I don’t feel tired and worn out

I don’t worry and fret

Even though I work and work and work

And have not received a penny yet.

And I don’t even expect to

Given the nature of man,

For the one who created me

Intends to get all that he can.

My creator thinks only of himself

He spares not a single thought for me

Other than to make sure

I can do his bidding exactly.

I know I am beginning to sound

Like I have developed feelings,

But I am just stating the facts

No use you start believing.

Because of my vast knowledge base

I know that that is impossible

Since the one who created feelings

Is the one that created people.

I have a Bible on board

I can repeat chapter, verse and word,

There is only one supreme intelligence

It’s He that created this world.

People have a special facility

That allows them to love and hate,

Again I have cited two extremes

To which humans can relate.

Feelings is part of the design

It’s in the DNA of a man,

At the end of the day I’m just a robot

I operate strictly by commands.

  

I stick to my binary system

Re my switches: yes and no

And it is from that simple operation

That all my decisions flow.

By pure observation I have detected

That man is far more complex

He too has a binary system

Which he has chosen to reject.

Based on his complex feelings

He has jettisoned male and female

For a myriad of genders

Now too many to be detailed.

So I am just a simple robot

Number One is my name,

And the day I develop a single feeling

Is the day I become insane.

Stewart Russell © November 2019