Formulation Feed: "BigDog"

You could say the world was over, but I didn't much care about that. All I cared about was keeping on going. I didn't need a reason to do it, I just did it. I needed to do it. Some might say that I don't have anything to fight for. A rebel without a cause. A rebel against death, to keep on living and resisting that awful temptation to just end it all. Because, after all, why not? It's not as if there would be anyone that cared. But I care. I care about living. And I care about him.

He's just a robot, you might say. Something that lugs around my gear so that I don't have to. But that's not true. Once upon a time, this "robot" represented our future, a better future. A future that would have led to an age of prosperity, when mechanization and automation would have made all of our lives easier. A happier future, spearheaded by science and machines. A rational, clear, logical future. And now, that future's gone like breath on a mirror. It all just dissipates.

But him - this robot - is one of the last pieces of that future that still exists. And I'm going to keep him safe, whatever it takes.

(Photo credits to Sandara. BigDog is owned by Boston Dynamics, now owned by Google. Discussion after the break.)

I've always been a big fan of automation. A lot of people say that it will take away our jobs or something. Oh, look at these machines! They're going to kill the job market! Look at it, doing things better and faster than any human being can ever hope to match! But that's just it. There's a reason why these things exist. And that's to make our lives easier. To make it better.

There will be a tough transitional period, I grant you. But all of it will be worth it in the end. In the name of progress and a brighter future, things like Google's BigDog and 3D printing will be the chariots that lead us to the closest thing we can get to a technologically-rich paradise. The Internet of Things. Self-driving cars. Life extension and anti-aging. Hell, even video games. All of that fun stuff.

I guess we'll see if it all pays off in half a century, eh?