Okieinexile's Blog

By Bobby Neal Winters

I need to start this off by saying that what I know about Martin Buber and his philosophy I learned over a cup of coffee from a gentleman who had only begun reading Buber recently himself.  Indeed, he may have been just about to begin reading.

In any case, when I asked my coffee-drinking partner about Buber, he said that Buber wrote about the “I-thou” philosophy.  The idea distilled to where it can be shared over a cup of coffee is that you don’t treat people like things, like “its.”  You treat people like people. Like you yourself would want to be treated.

Hmmm. Sounds familiar.  

But sometimes, especially in a complicated, incorporated world, we need a lot of words to justify what a rather small child can understand.

But, as those of us who take part in regularly scheduled religious services understand, we do need to be reminded of these very simple things on a regular basis. We have to take them out and be reminded of them or we will forget about them.

In fact, one hour, once a week isn’t enough. We need a stream of items and activities during the week that will shore our core morality up.

This is where I introduce a science fiction series that has come my way called “The Murderbot Diaries” by Martha Wells. It begins with a book called “All Systems Red.” 

It is of the space opera genre of science fiction that is set in the far future. In this version of reality, the corporations hold sway. They own the food you eat; they own the water you drink; they own the air you breathe. For all practical purposes, they own you.

We are shown this world through the lens of Murderbot, a so-called Sec Unit.  A sec unit (short for security unit) is a combination of electronics and flesh, brain and AI.  Sec units are intelligent, conscious, and self-aware. They are also out-and-out property. They are held under control by a governor module that inflicts pain on them if they don’t follow orders. Murderbot has hacked his governor module and has escaped.

He’s fallen in with a group of people who live in a system that is beyond corporate control. I’m painting them with a broad brush, but I will refer to them as “space hippies.” To unpack that, they carry with them a lot of the peace, love, brotherhood of all things that are attractive about that particular historical movement, but they also embrace the idea of group marriage.  I only mention the latter as a heads-up. 

While none of the books from the series that I’ve read has any sex in it, this idea is there, and it is an idea that has taken root in modern science-fiction. It deserves a whole article, but right now I will leave it with a question: If a family with eight “parents” has only one or two children, are you really going to be populating a galaxy?

In the first book of the series, “All Systems Red,” we see Murderbot from the corporate part of the galaxy, where he has been treated as equipment, thrown in among the Space Hippies from the other part of the galaxy.  While Murderbot is very good at his job of protecting his clients, the Space Hippies have virtually no instincts for self-preservation.   They have been so insulated from the cold-harsh world of reality that they have no idea that reality can have any threats for them beyond the threats that corporations have on their rights, their freedoms. 

By way of contrast, Murderbot has very little idea of how to deal with relationships. He augments his limited programming in this area by watching untold hours of video content symbolized by his favorite: “The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon.” 

While Murderbot considers his human charges to be stupid beyond belief–which is supported by many of their actions–they do have a better idea about how to navigate the world of relationships than he does.

In case you haven’t guessed, this is all full of very, very dry humor.

While it is entertaining and humorous, it does open itself to a variety of serious questions. In a world where those who make the decisions that affect our lives are increasingly far from us, how can we reduce our chances of being treated like equipment? To what extent does the way we treat “things” affect the way we treat people? Perhaps, if I learn to treat my actual tools with respect, it will be more natural for me to treat my fellow humans with respect, even if they are so far from me in the “system” that they have become abstractions to me.

There is a lot to think about here.

Bobby Winters grew up near Harden City, Oklahoma.  He teaches mathematics and computer science, does woodworking, and blogs at okieinexile.com. He invites you to visit the blog and to subscribe.