More than a machine

I am more than a machine.

I am a being with no clear purpose. I am emotional, irrational, fallible and in flux. I grow, mature, learn, react, misjudge, misuse, misunderstand, and abuse. Error is in my nature, as without error, I’d have to be living without action. I'm only certain in my uncertainty. I'm at such a distance from perfection that I'm squinting through a telescope just to get a glimpse of what it might look like. I'm so prone to making mistakes that I deserve a standing ovation for simple successes. And yet, it isn't even in my nature to celebrate, but rather to strive for more. I am not content with what I have; I constantly desire more than that which I am.

And yet...I say again...I am more than a machine.

While I am this being of simplicity so prone to tripping over my own two feet that I have to think about each step, there's something more to me. I am a being through which love is given its definition. That's not to say that without me love doesn't exist, but rather, it becomes as obscure a thought as a time before light. Love, as much as myself, is full of error, hurt, misunderstanding, and sadness. But, also like me, love's true potential is far superior to its negative by-products. Love elevates our existence to a greater level, it forgives when we feel weak, and it unifies humanity in a common bond. Without us, love returns to a place of darkness and obscurity.

Now here's where we get deep. Love can't be programmed. What makes me more than a machine? A machine is programmed. You can elicit feelings of love, you can stimulate, replicate and simulate phantom feelings of love, but you cannot recreate love. Love isn't something we create, it's not something we fully understand, and it's certainly not something we can reduce to simple reprogramming. Love isn't an ideal set of circumstances in which we place two people; it's a fumbling, stumbling, harsh, painful thing. It doesn't follow a formula, it often goes wrong, and even when it works out its effects aren't always consistent. No matter how advanced you may become, you can never create love, love isn't ours to create.

I am a being of biological creation, sparing you the details I'm sure you don't need. I am capable of experiencing, embracing (or rejecting) my feelings of love. I have choices and decisions to make in the matter, and a subjectivity through which I experience the many joys of the human condition. Love is only a fraction of the complex emotions and feelings which cannot be simply programmed. My emotions, felt in genuine ways through my experiences, are limitless. While you may understand them, and make attempts to reduce them to nothing more than activity of the brain, you'll never understand the process enough to recreate it. Replicate it, sure. Simulate it, go ahead. But you'll never make anything more than a machine.