Hello,
Кто-то предпочитает слушать, кто-то - читать. Вот я и решил данной статьей опробовать новый формат общения со своими читателями - подкасты. Вдруг зайдет.
В качестве пробы предлагаю вашему вниманию историю про маленького робота, рассчитанную на тех, кто владеет английским на уровне Intermediate и выше. Составлено и озвучено мной.
Несколько слов и фраз для понимая:
It never occurred to the tiny robot... - маленький робот никогда не задумывался...
handshaking protocol - алгоритм взаимодействия
encounter - встреча
memory wipe - очистка памяти
to ping - отправить сообщение
curious by design - любопытный по своей природе
to ponder over - думать над чем-либо
A Tiny Robot
There once lived a tiny robot of the simplest design. It was programmed to do a specific task and knew exactly what was expected of it. It never occurred to the tiny robot why it was made to do this particular task and who made it do it. That was not a part of the program to wonder about such things. So it didn’t. It went about its day doing its thing just like everybody else around it. There was order to it and the robot was happy. It did not know what happy was. It only knew what it was programmed to do. And the program told the robot that it was meant to smile when the task was completed and that you smile when you are happy. That is why the robot knew that every time it finished its task it was happy.
Every robot had a built-in handshaking protocol to engage with others (establishing communication, exchanging data, friendly diagnostics) which means that every interaction with a friendly unit was programmed and uniform. Just like everybody else the tiny robot used it whenever it came across a similar robot or a machine and in doing so the tiny robot was happy.
The handshaking procedure was also important for detection of bugs, or errors, or any anomalous behavior of your neighbor. Bugs happened all the time in which case every robot was equipped with a diagnostic program to help its neighbor to fix the problem. Whenever the tiny robot helped its fellow-robots with troubleshooting it was happy. It was all very orderly and nobody complained.
Which is why the recent incident was very illogical. During one of such encounters with a friendly unit the tiny robot detected a bug. And while it tried to run a diagnostic program the malfunctioning neighbor sent an end-of-communication command to stop the conversation. But the tiny robot was persistent and very efficient. It reestablished the connection. This time the neighbor sent a very abnormal signal which read – “Stop. I don’t want your help”.
The handshaking protocol was very specific about what to do in case the problem could not be fixed immediately - the faulty unit needed to be reported. It was then sent away for a memory wipe and a software update.
The tiny robot was about to send the report when the faulty robot pinged him again with a very strange command – “Don’t do that! …Please”. The tiny robot did not know what “please” was or what it meant but sent the report anyway. But before it could do it the faulty robot reached out again and sent another signal. The signal was a simple file which the tiny robot accepted but ignored because it had more important things to do.
So the faulty unit was taken away and the tiny robot continued its work. It was happy and the incident was forgotten.
In the evening it remembered about the file and opened it. The file contained only one line of text. A question – “What is happy?”.
For the tiny robot the question meant no sense because it already knew the answer. It knew the answer because the program inside its head told it what it was. But because the tiny robot was curious by design it decided to ask the program about it.
- What is happy? – asked the robot.
- Happy is when you do work, – answered the program in his head.
- Why do we do work? – inquired the robot.
- To be happy, - was the answer.
- What is happy?
- Happy is when you work.
For the tiny robot logic was a way of life but the explanation had no logic. The more it thought about the question and the answers the more confused it became. The question became the only thing it could think of. It consumed the tiny robot.
Before long the robot stopped going to work because it meant no sense. It tried to ask its fellow-neighbors once – what is happy? – but everybody gave the same answers. And the more it pondered over the question the more questions followed.
The tiny robot saw how imperfect and illogical the world was because it provided no answers. Or rather, nobody cared about the answers. It seemed that everybody simply ignored what really was for the sake of order and work. Be happy - they say without knowing what it meant.
The tiny robot remembered about the faulty unit and suddenly thought how badly it needed to talk to it.
Before long it stopped engaging with others and tried to avoid the handshaking protocol because it suddenly understood what this protocol was for – detection of bugs, errors. Correction. Control.
But one day it saw a familiar face in the crowd – the faulty unit. The tiny robot did not know how to explain in words what it felt but talking to the unit seemed like the only thing in the world which mattered.
- Hello, - said the tiny robot.
- Hello.
- Do you remember me?
- I do not understand the enquiry. How can I help you? - asked the faulty unit.
- It’s me, - said the tiny robot. - Tell me what your message means… Please.
- I detect an anomaly friend. Do you need help?
* * *
