20 August 2004
'Oh Jupiter, a robot Descartes!'
'Globes of energy millions of miles across! Worlds with three billion humans on them! Infinite emptiness! Sorry, Powell, but I don't believe it. I'll puzzle this thing out for myself. Good-by.'
'Look at you,' he said finally. 'I say this in no spirit of contempt, but look at you! The material you are made of is soft and flabby, lacking endurance and strength, depending for energy upon the inefficient oxidation of organic material - like that.' He pointed a disapproving finger at what remained of Donovan's sandwich. 'Periodically you pass into a coma and the least variation in temperature, air pressure, humidity, or radiation intensity impairs your efficiency. You are makeshift.' - the robot in 'Reason', by Asimov.
Off to Bristol Zoo tomorrow with my dear Grandmother. WE get to look at the naked mole rats, and possibly even do some drawings of them. YOU get to stay in London and, like, do drgs and stuff...Am I bothered though?! Feeling purified after an excoriating reading group last night (Deleuze, do we like him? Do we hate him? Does he say lots of things that no one ever works on cos they find it too hard? Anyone can write about becoming-animal, y'know. S'not cool an it's not clever. And just what is so important about a Norwegian omlette? etc. etc.).
I wonder if they have hyenas at the zoo....
'Look at you,' he said finally. 'I say this in no spirit of contempt, but look at you! The material you are made of is soft and flabby, lacking endurance and strength, depending for energy upon the inefficient oxidation of organic material - like that.' He pointed a disapproving finger at what remained of Donovan's sandwich. 'Periodically you pass into a coma and the least variation in temperature, air pressure, humidity, or radiation intensity impairs your efficiency. You are makeshift.' - the robot in 'Reason', by Asimov.
Off to Bristol Zoo tomorrow with my dear Grandmother. WE get to look at the naked mole rats, and possibly even do some drawings of them. YOU get to stay in London and, like, do drgs and stuff...Am I bothered though?! Feeling purified after an excoriating reading group last night (Deleuze, do we like him? Do we hate him? Does he say lots of things that no one ever works on cos they find it too hard? Anyone can write about becoming-animal, y'know. S'not cool an it's not clever. And just what is so important about a Norwegian omlette? etc. etc.).
I wonder if they have hyenas at the zoo....
