Re: O/T Beware the seductions of sociable machines.

Yes, I agree. It is another way of distancing people from real feelings, that beget real feelings in return. To me, it is an extension of the drugging of our societies, so that there are no emotions, beyond what is seen as "normal", or bland, as I think of it.

Many people, on anti-depressant drugs, are living a half life of repressed emotion, which prevents healing.

Machines require no emotional input from us either, which takes away the responsibility to respond to another's feelings, with, for example, empathy.

spud