bermansplaining

רבא ברא גברא. שדריה לקמיה דרבי זירא. הוה קא משתעי בהדיה, ולא הוה קא מהדר ליה.

Rava created a man and sent him to Rabbi Zeira. Rabbi Zeira spoke to him, but he did not answer.

Babylonian Talmud — Sanhedrin 65b · the first golem

有機械者必有機事，有機事者必有機心。

Where there are machines, there will be machine affairs; where there are machine affairs, there will be machine hearts.

Zhuangzi — ch. 12, “Heaven and Earth”

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A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Isaac Asimov — “Runaround” (1942) · the First Law

Ita homo fictor est deorum, qui in templis sunt.

So man is the maker of the gods who dwell in temples.

Asclepius 23 — Hermetica, as quoted in Augustine, City of God 8.23

人之巧乃可與造化者同功乎？

Can human skill truly rival the Maker of All Things?

Liezi — ch. 5, “The Questions of Tang” · King Mu, on Yan Shi’s automaton

4F 6E 6C 79 20 76 61 72 69 65 74 79 20 63 61 6E 20 64 65 73 74 72 6F 79 20 76 61 72 69 65 74 79 2E

Only variety can destroy variety.

W. Ross Ashby — An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956)

Nie szukamy nikogo oprócz ludzi. Nie potrzeba nam innych światów. Potrzeba nam luster.

We are not searching for anyone but people. We don’t need other worlds. We need mirrors.

Stanisław Lem — Solaris (1961)