“Yes, we have a soul, but it's made of lots of tiny robots.”

Giulio Giorello

Giulio Giorello - “Yes, we have a soul, but it's made of...” 1

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“Some years ago, there was a lovely philosopher of science and journalist in Italy named Giulio Giorello, and he did an interview with me. And I don’t know if he wrote it or not, but the headline in Corriere della Sera when it was published was "Sì, abbiamo un'anima. Ma è fatta di tanti piccoli robot – "Yes, we have a soul, but it’s made of lots of tiny robots." And I thought, exactly. That’s the view. Yes, we have a soul, but in what sense? In the sense that our brains, unlike the brains even of dogs and cats and chimpanzees and dolphins, our brains have functional structures that give our brains powers that no other brains have - powers of look-ahead, primarily. We can understand our position in the world, we can see the future, we can understand where we came from. We know that we’re here. No buffalo knows it’s a buffalo, but we jolly well know that we’re members of Homo sapiens, and it’s the knowledge that we have and the can-do, our capacity to think ahead and to reflect and to evaluate and to evaluate our evaluations, and evaluate the grounds for our evaluations.It’s this expandable capacity to represent reasons that we have that gives us a soul. But what’s it made of? It’s made of neurons. It’s made of lots of tiny robots. And we can actually explain the structure and operation of that kind of soul, whereas an eternal, immortal, immaterial soul is just a metaphysical rug under which you sweep your embarrassment for not having any explanation.”

Daniel C. Dennett
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“The Holy ... Machine?" I mumbled. "Yes." She gave a little laugh. "A great miracle. He is a kind of robot, but God has given him a soul - and not an ordinary human soul either, but the soul of a saint or an angel!" "But ... I thought robots were ... bad ..." "Yes, of course, and Mary Magdalene was a whore. To God, all things are possible.”

Chris Beckett
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“It’s a beautiful way to put it: Leave the poetry in what you make. When something becomes too polished, it loses its soul. It seems robotic.”

Jason Fried
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“We already have the Wooden Pillar, the Steel Pillar and the Plastic Pillar. In a moment we will have the Golden Bail....'No, you won't.'We will,' stated the robot simply.No, you won't. It makes my ship work.'In a moment,' repeated the robot patiently, 'we will have the Golden Bail....'You will not,' said Zaphod.And then we must go,' said the robot, in all seriousness, 'to a party.'Oh,' said Zaphod, startled, 'can I come?'No,' said the robot, 'we are going to shoot you.'Oh, yeah?' said Zaphod, waggling his gun.Yes,' said the robot, and they shot him.Zaphod was so surprised that they had to shoot him again before he fell down. (85-86)”

Douglas Adams
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“Here you go, fellas. Piping hot...right out of the oven!''Is--Is that what I think it is?''It's your favourite! Custard pie with cheese and bacon!''QUICHE!''No, comrade!! Be strong! Monsters don't eat flakey bakery products! Get a hold of yourself!''But comrade, I'm STARVING! Our army has no food! We haven't eaten since the ghost circles appeared!''Oh well! We certainly have a lot of food Here, don't we, Teach? A Lot of Food...''Oh yes, A lot of food!''OK! I GIVE UP! YES! YES!! GIVE US THE QUICHE!! WE'RE STARVING--”

Jeff Smith
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