Amanda tells a story that spirals the discussion down a rabbit hole of ideas and contemplation on the future of society. More specifically, the impending automation of society.
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Welcome to Smirk. A podcast that covers society and culture through a storytelling lens. Part creative writing, part discussion, and always interesting. Each week our hosts brings a story to the show, a story they wrote themselves, which is immediately followed by discussion on the author’s moral or theme.
These stories can cover any topic the host wants to discuss, it can be lighthearted or more serious. No one but the author knows if these tales are truth or fiction, and part of the fun is guessing while you’re listening before the reality is made clear.
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Want to read Amanda’s story “Cessation” in full? Think you can identify the moral or theme for this episode? Read it below, and then take a listen to the podcast.
Cessation
Denny acknowledges that he doesn’t fit in with society like most others eventually do. He’s also incredibly brilliant; so brilliant that it scares others. Whenever there has been a problem, he would solve it before anyone else had the opportunity to come up with alternative suggestions. He has always been in the work of giving to others and helping them in any capacity; he actually works as a cancer research scientist. He’s made a couple of really great friends in his adult life and his closest friend, Paul, is a gym rat and party boy, but has an endless amount of empathy and compassion. Their mutual kindness seemed to be the biggest tie in Denny and Paul’s friendship.
One day, they were sitting across from each other having a drink at the bar when they started to get into a deep and philosophical conversation. They talked about all matters – including morality and violence issues in society, and happier topics like the exquisite beauty of nature. Paul would say something like how ‘lovely it was to take a walk on this dirt Trail at a local Forest Preserve’ or how ‘lovely the weather was for the day’. He kept using this word ‘lovely’ as if he was learning it for the first time. And although he had no negative intentions, every time he said the word, Denny seemed to get upset. Paul kept noticing the emotions changing and he had no idea why. So being the empathetic friends that Paul is, he asked Danny if everything was okay and what was going on. Denny responded with complete confusion and had no idea what Paul was referring to, only moments after his change of mood.
This is pretty weird.
Paul changes the subject and asks Denny how his research is going. It’s a very noble career to spend your life looking for ways to continue others lives. Denny responds that he’s starting to find success, and has a concept on how to restructure the cells in the body to alleviate cancer. Paul responds with his weird use of ‘lovely’ again and this sets Denny off for the final time. Without a moment’s hesitation, Denny reaches across the table, grabs Paul by the neck, and continues to strangle him until four other patrons in the bar pull him off. Everyone around said that he didn’t even appear angry afterwards. It’s almost like he just snapped and when it was over he was immediately checking on Paul to see if he was okay.
Paul was frantic at this point because his best friend just tried to kill him for using the word lovely. So Denny decided to go to his doctor to try to figure out what happened. The doctor specializes in artificial intelligence robotics. They tell him that he was programmed incorrectly and he had a trigger from the word lovely. This trigger incited rage and violence in him, without him even realizing it. He wasn’t cognizant at all of his actions during the time and certainly didn’t recognize after the fact. With this realization, he’s finally able to come to terms with why he never feels like he fits in with society. His doctor tells him that with his actions, he will need to be taken down and recycled for parts. Because of the safety concern, he won’t have any time to say goodbye to anyone, including Paul. He sighs, but understands he’s just materials, and accepts his fate.
This is his automaton cessation.
Now, listen to the full episode as we dissect Amanda’s story.