There are other, less tragically inadequate human languages that might be helpful in this circumstance. English really is putting our worst foot forward on the human-cyborg relations front.
Well, it could be worse. There are many languages where nouns have gender (or even animate/inanimate distinctions), so the equivalent of word “robot” itself comes with a classification attached. Xbot would probably benefit from communication in Lojban, but I don’t know how much of it Ethan could learn.
Ah, knew great minds think alike. Should have read as your post was even better. Robot is basically a way to say ‘worker’. Robotat (lacking the cyrillic) is the verb for work if I recall a course many years ago. Gendered nouns which are inanimate I always used to see as frustrating both because which were ascribed particular gender pronouns seemed very arbitrary and because I couldn’t see much benefit and it adds a lot to care which one needs display when it comes to various agreements. Then only now did I consider that, for some languages, perhaps some aboriginal… Read more »
The point I was getting at was perhaps a computer language might have ways of describing things that might be more useful in this instance. (That almost sounds like a self referential computer joke…)
(I didn’t mean it to sound snarky)
foducool
3 years ago
dealing with gender pronouns by wiping out humankind seems like a sensible choice at this point in time
Rationalizing language and considering the useful idea of a single language (traditionally done via conquering a bunch of smaller polities then forcing them to adopt single writing styles, etc) on a global scale is probably slightly more unlikely than world peace.
Jeff CB Jones
3 years ago
Or for ease of conversation we could just go back to “he” since nobody, including Gizzy, has any better ideas. Probably doesn’t matter all that much to him anyway, like how everyone else feels if he calls them Meatsack.
Sometimes, the only thing you can say is “But enough talk, have at you!”
Austin Mills
3 years ago
That last panel…X1 seems hesitant to go through the effort to decide this. I think X1’s realized how complicated this matter is and is worried what conclusion they’ll come to. And in case you haven’t noticed, I just highlighted a possible option for X1: referring to oneself in the third person. It’s annoying, but referring to X1 by their name means they’re not a “he,” a “she,” or the derogatory “it.” I think it’s at least a temporary solution, but it would then highlight the other problem: being named X1. That would probably start eating away at our robotic buddy… Read more »
“I am not my thoughts, emotions, sense perceptions, and experiences. I am not the content of my life. I am Life. I am the space in which all things happen. I am consciousness. I am the Now. I Am.” – Eckhart Tolle.
Anthropology refers to the study of humanity.
Though some scholars consider one half of its original compound–the greek “anthropos”, human–as likely originating in part from “aner” (man), the word itself is androgynous. (Which does not mean “masculine”, note that “androgyne” includes “gyne”, meaning “woman”.)
si1vergecko
3 years ago
Odd how our robot friend’s plan B sounds strangely sensible at times.
If he just went by the letter Z, would he be “Zee” or “Zed”?
Leon
3 years ago
Sometimes a decision needs to be made regardless of contraversy
no thanks nintendo
3 years ago
Honestly, within the context of the simple respect of calling people what they wish to be called, that’s a good plan. Humanity has already demonstrated it doesn’t deserve anything better at this point.
Him.
3 years ago
“On further analysis of contemporary comics on this subject, we have decided your pronouns are “Yaay”/”yah””
Crestlinger
3 years ago
Well currently ‘Gaming Buddy’ seems to fit.
Joneth
3 years ago
Since it cant bear children and has no other female identifiers, its a “He” for all intents and purposes.
If you’re going full-on biological, bro, it seems like the male would be the ‘modified human’ model. After all, that’s the one with the little clingy Y chromosome that goes and mucks up what the Xes are doing.
Kaitensatsuma
3 years ago
Not trying to start shit, but depending on how the Machine Learning algorithm is built, perhaps “They” isn’t entirely inaccurate.
If he eventually became a decentralized, distributed intelligence… would that change the pronoun that would be appropriate? Many instances would suggest a plural-esque pronoun, but a large gestalt intelligence may suggest a single pronoun. And if the system is multi-modal (sometimes in a gestalt, sometime separte), do you need two sets of pronouns?
A lurking Enby fan
3 years ago
Personally as a non-binary person I’m on team they/them for Xbot, but it’s also entirely up to Xbot what pronouns to choose.
I was just coming here to say the same thing. Singular they/them/theirs is every bit as linguistically valid as the singular ‘you’ is, and anyone who disagrees can shut the fuck up and start referring to all individuals as ‘thou’ from now on.
Shecky
3 years ago
Seems like a cart before the horse situation… I mean pick an actual proper identifier and name first! Like Skyler
People usually think up a few names for each gender while waiting for the reveal, narrow it down to one for each, or maybe one that fits either gender like Jesse or Skyler as mentioned above.
And then also, some cultures assign a birth name, but when you mature (have some idea about the world), you are given or choose an adult name. That might be one way for Xbot to go forward.
Any decision now could be amended later.
Lily
3 years ago
I feel like this would be a much easier issue if they were speaking another language. Actually, even with English it doesn’t have to be that hard, they could just always refer to the robot by name and use neutral terms like them or they.
Jordan Utecht
3 years ago
I love how at this point even Lucas knows Zekes heart isn’t all in on the whole “murder everyone” thing.
That right there, is the tiny little bit of additional characterization and story that I love, which Tim seems to add in all the time. Main story is X1 contemplating his identity. Secondary story is Ethan and Lucas trying to help him out with human concepts. Third story is Lucas empathizing a little more with the X1.
Now I agree he was patterned after male anatomy and has male-like aggression scaling. His vocabulary and interests also align with that of males of the human species. I’m also calling Not-Zeke “he” and “him” without being ironic or condescending, or trying to create traps. However… and hear me out. S/he pronouns are constructs of biologic two gender categorization. NZ is not biologic, and may decide that his identity does not fit into those categorizations. In that case, since he is the progenitor of a new race, he will have the right to decide how his existence is defined, just… Read more »
The thing that bugs me a ton here is that the bomb’s still in him, and there’s still the perimeter up. X1 essentially has an assassin watching him all the time – and Lucas is the only one who is both aware of the bomb, and aware of X1’s (for lack of a better word) humanity. Furthermore – the longer they go from that initial test night, the more likely it is that X1 will leave for a perfectly reasonable reason – get new batteries for his XBox controller, replace a scratched disc, even step out by Ethan’s invitation. Which… Read more »
Nathan
3 years ago
If only there was something that does not include gender to call someone…. O yeah, a name.. Stupid discussion, if this continues I will drop this comic.
Right, because once a name is decided on anything/anyone no pronouns need ever be used ever again, because English is like that where pronouns are totally optional along with the way they identify gender and even livingness (for “it”).
I know this is only the tip of the iceberg looming in your comment, but I’m no Titanic and am not getting closer.
As far as I’m concerned (only a loyal reader), if that’s the sort of feedback and tone you’re here to give, feel free to drop this comic. Please do.
Its a machine, giving it a name is al it needs. Since people get so butthurt on wrong pronouns it would be better to just drop the stupid things and call each other buy name.
His expression when he says that… defenceless… almost scared… makes the whole thing unexpectedly poignant.
NiteZ
3 years ago
I mean… non-binary gender exists. Not gonna lie the prefix Mx. is pretty cool.
Elu
3 years ago
there is always they/them, though ! 😀
he who rages
3 years ago
He has a solid plan. I’d kill everyone so no one can call me anything
Aaron Kossenberg
3 years ago
yer this comic was good once till I started reading this. I have been reading this comic since it was first came online very disappointing
ArdentSlacker
3 years ago
… What’s wrong with “They”? Nonbinary peeps have this solved, years ago… and it’s proper grammar, as we always correctly use it in cases where gender is unknown.
Prime_pm
3 years ago
Well my comment got certainly backslapped in this one.
24
Technically correct
That’s the best kind of correct!
One would think that ‘entirely correct’ would be even more desirable.
Not if you’re a bureaucrat!
There are other, less tragically inadequate human languages that might be helpful in this circumstance. English really is putting our worst foot forward on the human-cyborg relations front.
Well, it could be worse. There are many languages where nouns have gender (or even animate/inanimate distinctions), so the equivalent of word “robot” itself comes with a classification attached. Xbot would probably benefit from communication in Lojban, but I don’t know how much of it Ethan could learn.
That being said, nobody, and I mean nobody, should say “gynoid” in hearing range of Zeke.
Ah, knew great minds think alike. Should have read as your post was even better. Robot is basically a way to say ‘worker’. Robotat (lacking the cyrillic) is the verb for work if I recall a course many years ago. Gendered nouns which are inanimate I always used to see as frustrating both because which were ascribed particular gender pronouns seemed very arbitrary and because I couldn’t see much benefit and it adds a lot to care which one needs display when it comes to various agreements. Then only now did I consider that, for some languages, perhaps some aboriginal… Read more »
Hebrew is good, there is no “it”.
In Hebrew, “you” has a gender. I have no idea how that works in this age of gender neutrality.
I suppose you’d have preferred assembler? Or FORTRAN? Or perhaps LISP? 😉
The point I was getting at was perhaps a computer language might have ways of describing things that might be more useful in this instance. (That almost sounds like a self referential computer joke…)
(I didn’t mean it to sound snarky)
dealing with gender pronouns by wiping out humankind seems like a sensible choice at this point in time
Indeed. Just one issue.
He has to walk out the door first?.
Remote controlled nuke drones. No need to leave the room! xD
I smell Skynet….
You mean, it has to walk out the door.
Ze has to walk out ze door.
Missed a “ke” there …
Not really. Amazon and the next flesh-eating mutation of Covid that sits on cardboard for two years.
Amazon’s spread might well be viral. Hmmmm….
“He”?
Isn’t that kinda emphasising the problem?
Well if would definitively if rather messily settle the debate over the whole pronoun/gender issue.
Rationalizing language and considering the useful idea of a single language (traditionally done via conquering a bunch of smaller polities then forcing them to adopt single writing styles, etc) on a global scale is probably slightly more unlikely than world peace.
Or for ease of conversation we could just go back to “he” since nobody, including Gizzy, has any better ideas. Probably doesn’t matter all that much to him anyway, like how everyone else feels if he calls them Meatsack.
hhhmmm…
Could refer to him/her/it as siliconsack…
So is this where we get the Xbots name, be it Zeke, or something else. I’m hoping for Zeke just for fan service sake.
He’s gonna decide he is a he and that he is gonna need a name to recognize that.
What is a man? A miserable pile of secrets
But what can change the nature of man
Fire, and lots of it.
Sometimes, the only thing you can say is “But enough talk, have at you!”
That last panel…X1 seems hesitant to go through the effort to decide this. I think X1’s realized how complicated this matter is and is worried what conclusion they’ll come to. And in case you haven’t noticed, I just highlighted a possible option for X1: referring to oneself in the third person. It’s annoying, but referring to X1 by their name means they’re not a “he,” a “she,” or the derogatory “it.” I think it’s at least a temporary solution, but it would then highlight the other problem: being named X1. That would probably start eating away at our robotic buddy… Read more »
X1 is too smart for your puny pronouns
Lota approves of this statement.
Plus it sounds like you should be ruling the planet. “X1 would like you bring the new Payday disc…”
That’s quite fitting for X1, though.
“I am not my thoughts, emotions, sense perceptions, and experiences. I am not the content of my life. I am Life. I am the space in which all things happen. I am consciousness. I am the Now. I Am.” – Eckhart Tolle.
Username is surprisingly on point.
I mean, if he’s content with being called an android as opposed to a gynoid it’s kinda obvious that he’s a he. Androi d literally means “male-like”.
So “droid” it is!
That’s why androgynous means “masculine”, and anthropology is the study of men 😛
Anthropology refers to the study of humanity.
Though some scholars consider one half of its original compound–the greek “anthropos”, human–as likely originating in part from “aner” (man), the word itself is androgynous. (Which does not mean “masculine”, note that “androgyne” includes “gyne”, meaning “woman”.)
Odd how our robot friend’s plan B sounds strangely sensible at times.
Reverse suicidal
“Homicidal”
Omnicidal!
But lonely. It’s not only his plan. There’s lots of people out there who would like to eliminate humans from Earth.
Anyone else think that an 80’s style sit-com laugh track would be perfect after that last line of dialogue?
That won’t solve the problem of Zeke’s identification of Zeke’s self though. After all, you have to refer to yourself somehow 😀
If it’s just Z left, the only thing Z’d ever need to use for Z-self is “I”.
If he just went by the letter Z, would he be “Zee” or “Zed”?
Sometimes a decision needs to be made regardless of contraversy
Honestly, within the context of the simple respect of calling people what they wish to be called, that’s a good plan. Humanity has already demonstrated it doesn’t deserve anything better at this point.
“On further analysis of contemporary comics on this subject, we have decided your pronouns are “Yaay”/”yah””
Well currently ‘Gaming Buddy’ seems to fit.
Since it cant bear children and has no other female identifiers, its a “He” for all intents and purposes.
If you’re going full-on biological, bro, it seems like the male would be the ‘modified human’ model. After all, that’s the one with the little clingy Y chromosome that goes and mucks up what the Xes are doing.
Not trying to start shit, but depending on how the Machine Learning algorithm is built, perhaps “They” isn’t entirely inaccurate.
Yeah, them or they is a perfectly usable pronoun.
They/Us …. yeah, that’s a good point.
If he eventually became a decentralized, distributed intelligence… would that change the pronoun that would be appropriate? Many instances would suggest a plural-esque pronoun, but a large gestalt intelligence may suggest a single pronoun. And if the system is multi-modal (sometimes in a gestalt, sometime separte), do you need two sets of pronouns?
Personally as a non-binary person I’m on team they/them for Xbot, but it’s also entirely up to Xbot what pronouns to choose.
I was just coming here to say the same thing. Singular they/them/theirs is every bit as linguistically valid as the singular ‘you’ is, and anyone who disagrees can shut the fuck up and start referring to all individuals as ‘thou’ from now on.
Seems like a cart before the horse situation… I mean pick an actual proper identifier and name first! Like Skyler
One hiccup, you might recognize it, but do people name a baby before they know the gender, or after?
I mean, most usually.
People usually think up a few names for each gender while waiting for the reveal, narrow it down to one for each, or maybe one that fits either gender like Jesse or Skyler as mentioned above.
And then also, some cultures assign a birth name, but when you mature (have some idea about the world), you are given or choose an adult name. That might be one way for Xbot to go forward.
Any decision now could be amended later.
I feel like this would be a much easier issue if they were speaking another language. Actually, even with English it doesn’t have to be that hard, they could just always refer to the robot by name and use neutral terms like them or they.
I love how at this point even Lucas knows Zekes heart isn’t all in on the whole “murder everyone” thing.
That right there, is the tiny little bit of additional characterization and story that I love, which Tim seems to add in all the time. Main story is X1 contemplating his identity. Secondary story is Ethan and Lucas trying to help him out with human concepts. Third story is Lucas empathizing a little more with the X1.
Obviously a masculine character. “He” Fits.
Without any epic facial hair, how can you really tell?
Why?
Now I agree he was patterned after male anatomy and has male-like aggression scaling. His vocabulary and interests also align with that of males of the human species. I’m also calling Not-Zeke “he” and “him” without being ironic or condescending, or trying to create traps. However… and hear me out. S/he pronouns are constructs of biologic two gender categorization. NZ is not biologic, and may decide that his identity does not fit into those categorizations. In that case, since he is the progenitor of a new race, he will have the right to decide how his existence is defined, just… Read more »
Obviously masculine, or just not feminine?
The thing that bugs me a ton here is that the bomb’s still in him, and there’s still the perimeter up. X1 essentially has an assassin watching him all the time – and Lucas is the only one who is both aware of the bomb, and aware of X1’s (for lack of a better word) humanity. Furthermore – the longer they go from that initial test night, the more likely it is that X1 will leave for a perfectly reasonable reason – get new batteries for his XBox controller, replace a scratched disc, even step out by Ethan’s invitation. Which… Read more »
If only there was something that does not include gender to call someone…. O yeah, a name.. Stupid discussion, if this continues I will drop this comic.
Right, because once a name is decided on anything/anyone no pronouns need ever be used ever again, because English is like that where pronouns are totally optional along with the way they identify gender and even livingness (for “it”).
I know this is only the tip of the iceberg looming in your comment, but I’m no Titanic and am not getting closer.
As far as I’m concerned (only a loyal reader), if that’s the sort of feedback and tone you’re here to give, feel free to drop this comic. Please do.
Its a machine, giving it a name is al it needs. Since people get so butthurt on wrong pronouns it would be better to just drop the stupid things and call each other buy name.
“Its a machine, giving it a name is al it needs.”
I do believe you have missed the point entirely.
His expression when he says that… defenceless… almost scared… makes the whole thing unexpectedly poignant.
I mean… non-binary gender exists. Not gonna lie the prefix Mx. is pretty cool.
there is always they/them, though ! 😀
He has a solid plan. I’d kill everyone so no one can call me anything
yer this comic was good once till I started reading this. I have been reading this comic since it was first came online very disappointing
… What’s wrong with “They”? Nonbinary peeps have this solved, years ago… and it’s proper grammar, as we always correctly use it in cases where gender is unknown.
Well my comment got certainly backslapped in this one.