[xyzzy123]

I don't feel this kind of "ruthlessness" is particularly inherent to computers.

It seems to me an inherent property of the non-human universe, i.e "everything but us" - gravity is extremely unforgiving if you happen to step off the wrong thing, a sharp rock can slice you open with a moment's inattention. If you find yourself in the wrong environment you will die of thirst or hunger or asphyxiate. Nature is not "kind". Eventually even our bodies turn on us.

Human kindness and judgement have a very limited sphere of influence, it just (rightly) feels huge because it's at the center of human life.

[marssaxman]

Nature is not kind, but neither is it vindictive; the wild world outside humanity will generally treat you with mere indifference. Conversely, there is nothing on earth capable of inflicting more sustained, intentional harm than a group of humans with hearts full of righteous certainty.

[lo_zamoyski]

I would make a stronger and more explicit claim. Even speaking of "nature" as "indifferent" is wrong, because it is a category mistake. Indifference presupposes a capacity to care, so a claim like "the rock is indifferent" isn't just false, but nonsensical. A rock falling off a cliff onto a person below is just a rock that has completely accidentally landed on a person below.

Why do I emphasize this so strongly? Because popular science, as it is wont to do, often sacrifices correctness and intellectual substance with tawdry emotional appeal and sensationalism. To say "the universe is indifferent to us" has an emotional force than the banal reality of the situation does not. And this leads to intellectual confusion and a distorted view of reality, because a category, through emotional conditioning, has been falsely attached to reality.