Hypothesis
The source of fascination for the automata is different for their spectators and their creators. The spectators of the automatons, they would feel the awe of the impossible and magic-like creation. Here, people start questioning what makes a human “human”, seeing a non-biological creation depicting a daily activity so delicately. While at the same time the conflicting feeling of fear would rest in the air. The knowledge that the automata would not age the way that the spectators do alienates the machines from them. The automata’s immortality is contrasted with the mortality of the spectators.
The making of an automaton requires a vast amount of time and handwork. The consequence of this long and arduous task is a mimesis of human being. For some makers, building a self-acting machine is like paying a tribute to the one that will resemble the machine. Creating a lifelike representation of the dead loved ones will “resurrect” them from their graves and embody the properties that their human counterparts once had. This can also give the maker the sensation of “playing god”, and the more taboo it seems, the stronger the sense of powerfulness. Attempts to create an automaton that could bleed and covering an automaton with an actual human skin are cases makes it seem that they were trying to make an ideal version of themselves; the immortal human.
The making of an automaton requires a vast amount of time and handwork. The consequence of this long and arduous task is a mimesis of human being. For some makers, building a self-acting machine is like paying a tribute to the one that will resemble the machine. Creating a lifelike representation of the dead loved ones will “resurrect” them from their graves and embody the properties that their human counterparts once had. This can also give the maker the sensation of “playing god”, and the more taboo it seems, the stronger the sense of powerfulness. Attempts to create an automaton that could bleed and covering an automaton with an actual human skin are cases makes it seem that they were trying to make an ideal version of themselves; the immortal human.
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