Humans vs. Machines

Author's Note:  This writing piece is a response to the short story "The Fun They Had" by Isaac Asimov.  It is explaining why you cannot replace humans with machines.  Also, this writing piece is a practice District Writing Assessment.

Can you replace people with machines?  In the story "The Fun They Had," teachers are replaced with  mechanical teachers.  Along with replacing professors, the mechanical teachers are made to teach only one person.  Classrooms and schools no longer exist because the teaching occurs at the student's home.   Replacing people with robot machines isolates the human race.

The title ",The Fun They Had," describes how school used to be before robots took the role of teachers.  Margie, the main character, finds herself pondering about what school was like back when her great grandfather was a student.  The finding of a journal about school back in her great grandfather's time led her to believe that school with human professors and human students is much better than school with a robotic machine as the teacher and only one student in her classroom.  Margie surely feels lonely.

Margie's feeling of loneliness got her to start thinking about how, in the past, students did a lot of activities together.  They used to walk home together and do homework together, but now Margie is alone.  By being alone she loses the ability to do all these things.  Isolation restricts her from meeting new friends and getting help with homework by friends or teachers.  Margie's current school system is not student friendly.

The human race becomes isolated when machines replace human workers.  Machines can be very  efficient and precise.  They cannot provide friendships or understand emotions .  Having human  interactions adds to a person's quality of life.

The Pigs and the Revolution

 Author Note:  This is a response to the prompt: Discuss how the pigs have changed since the beginning of the book, and what you think Orwell is saying about those who became the leaders of the revolution in Russia.  It shows how the events in Animal farm have a resemblance with the Russian Revolution.

In the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, the farm animals led by the pigs battle Mr. Jones, the farm owner, for freedom from his rule.  After two battles, the farm animals finally win the battle for freedom and chase Mr. Jones off the farm.  Soon after the newly won victory, the pigs reform the farm, like making new rules and procedures to follow.  While deciding on the future of the farm, Snowball and Napoleon, two of the pigs, begin to struggle for power and influence.  Eventually, Napoleon wins and exiles Snowball.  The struggle between Snowball and Napoleon is like the struggle for leadership during the Russian Revolution.

The relation to the Russian Revolution is easily seen in this book.  In Animal Farm, the battles with Mr. Jones for freedom  resembles when Russia battled against Czar Nicholas for better treatment.  When the pigs Snowball and Napoleon battle for leadership of the farm this relates to how Trotsky and Stalin fought for leadership of Russia (Snowball being Trotsky and Napoleon being Stalin).  During the Russian Revolution, Trotsky was intelligent and was also a great speaker, just like Snowball is in Animal Farm.  Also, during the Russian Revolution, Stalin used the military to control the people of Russia, just like how Napoleon used the dogs to exile Snowball and control the animals of Animal Farm.

The struggle for leadership during the Russian Revolution mirrors how Snowball and Napoleon struggle for leadership of Animal farm.  When a group decides they want to change an oppressors ways, they often work very hard to accomplish it.  If they succeed, they will make new rules or guidelines for other people who might also have this problem.  For example, the animals of Animal Farm worked really hard to gain freedom from Mr. Jones.  The pigs then made new rules for every animal to follow.  What lots of leaders do is become oppressors themselves.  In Animal Farm, Napoleon exiles Snowball and "bends" the rules to his own liking, and Stalin was guilty of abandoning the principles of his beliefs.  The events in Animal farm resembles the events that occurred during the Russian Revolution.