[davito88]

I think this could be said for many technologies: the cashier scans barcodes, the cook at McDonalds flips burgers when the alarm goes off, the anesthesiologist or pilot watches gauges...

[timthelion]

And Uber tells the drivers where to go.

[ronilan]

Near my house, 4 red octagons with a simple white drawing command humans to stop and cooperate.

[timthelion]

I don't understand what you mean.

[linkregister]

Stop sign. I don’t think it’s a good analogy.

[timthelion]

Actually, I think that anarchists would tell you it is a great analogy. They would claim that we are being controlled by a system of laws, a system which is like a computer program written by novice programmers who do not know how to debug, and who paid no attention to the finer details. That not only is the legal system like a robot which controls us, but it is like a stupid, primitive, and brutal robot which controls us.

[eric_h]

Specifically a four way stop, and I'm not sure I agree that it isn't a good analogy. It's an autonomous system (traffic laws) commanding human behavior.

[the-dude]

In South Africa, these are literally called robots.

edit: was too fast, sorry. Traffic lights are called robots in SA.