in the uncanny valley

in a space
like my world
but not so much
is this face
real but still fake
in this place
like my home
but not enough
to embrace
a new fate

so very real 

but still fake

like my home
but not enough

like my world
but somewhere else

like my face
but someone else

so very close
but not enough
to feel love 
for someone else

Author's Note

Reviews

[Mitchell J.U.]

How do you feel about all that? I collected a build up of self empathy leading to justification of apathy. In the least having love for yourself is one aspect. Being incapable of love for others is proven to complicate life for certain personalities leading to a more sociopathic lifestyle. Farmers farm, writers write. Keep writing sir, I'll see you around. I enjoyed this mostly because of how well 'uncanny' screams out in each line. I mostly avoid leaving long winded or speculative reviews to avoid unintentional ignominy. If anything it's nice to share ones very essence with others through writing. Hope you keep doing you.

[Davidgeo]

You should probably look up the term "uncanny valley" or watch the short video below the poem.

[Mitchell J.U.]

Aye. I see. Video and terminology now. Not of human condition but AI. For some reason on my mobile the video is not present... Thus why it was missed. Thanks for that.

[Mitchell J.U.]

With this information it's clear to see that my previous assumption made an a*s of me. c'est la vie. With that being said how do you still feel about this matter? Do you think intelligence with no emotional compass is dangerous?

[Davidgeo]

Anything conscious without a moral compass is dangerous to you and I in western society. The real question is how you define consciousness absolutely. Information is not conscious without thought. Machines have yet to think beyond preprogrammed algorithms. But this begs another question... is our evolution the biological equivalent to preprogrammed genetic survival algorithms? A lion or a bear or a shark are not only capable of dangerous behavior, their entire survival depends upon it... from our perspective at least. What you and I consider dangerous is very subjective in the grand scheme of nature. Our human moral compass is a recent development... and if it was something we started with 100 thousand years ago we'd have gone extinct before we ever got the chance to think about it. Is the system that provides us fast food more real than the system that created the food chain in general?

[Mitchell J.U.]

I feel that AI is the next step in "human" evolution. One day our organic type will die out but our "artificial" type will become the continuation of our species. Like the alien race from Kurt Vonnegut in Sirens of Titan the advanced machines still acknowledge that they were a product of organic life yet know they are something even more refined, evolved. I also feel that even though emotions prove to create something beautiful in the human experience that a 'consciousness' free of taking those conceptual pitfalls in logic and progress will be much more successful. Like the Borg in ST... I always admired that as much as I feared it. One day humans as we know them to be will hold no resemblance to us outside of the fact of them being in the line of evolution. When it comes to these things, thought, opinions are a dime a dozen and hold no viable substance in the unforseen future. Thanks for having a conversation with me about this. It's something I very much enjoy contemplating and discussing. I really enjoy this work now that I get the full spectrum you were pulling from to construct it. Thanks again

[Davidgeo]

There is a book called "simulacra and simulation" by a fella named Jean Baudrillard I think you might find very interesting. It's not long but it is kind of a pain in the a*s to read... the way that prick writes is kinda tricky but very, very interesting if you're into that kind of thing.

[Mitchell J.U.]

I will check it out. Thanks

[4000Years]

As one who have remained single all my life, I can relate to the sense of loneliness implied by this poem. Everything around you seems false but there is still this impression on longing to be able to connect to another person. Is it possible, though, when everyone is wearing a mask instead of showing their true selves? That, at least, is the message I seem to draw from the poem. I'm not sure if that is in line with the intent of the author or not. Either way, it is an intriguing work and was enjoyable to read.

Thank you,

4K

[Davidgeo]

Your interpretation works quite well I think. It's really just about artificial intelligence and how human looking fake things can be inherently off putting if the resemblance is close but not close enough. Sociopaths are realistic looking fake people in another way, and in society they tend to be off inherently off putting if they can't fake it well enough. Watch the short video at the end, it describes what the concept of the "uncanny valley" quite well with respect to robotics.

[danielle.]

I like this poem, kind of dark but kind of playful. Like being a stranger in your own life, detached.

[Diane]

This was pretty darn good. I stumbled in a few places but I am just not the greatest at reading poems. Looking forward to reading more of your work. Thanks for sharing.

[Davidgeo]

Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it. It makes more sense if you watch the short video below the poem.

[John the Baptist]

Actually, I don't think this poem is about robots. I think the person who is talking is comparing himself to a robot because of the psychological defenses he has constructed to protect himself from pain. He does not want to "embrace a new fate," which may be an oblique way of referring to relationships. He seems normal, but he is in fact emotionally sequestered. He is "so very close/ but not enough/ to feel love/ for someone else." Truthfully, the robot's lot is superior to his, because it has no way of knowing what it is missing. Beneath the words of the last verse is sorrow.

[Davidgeo]

It can be about whatever you want it to be about. To me, it's about the simulacrum in general, not just human like robots or animation. The imitation of an imitation of an imitation of the real is always kinda creepy and slightly unlovable. Jean Baudrillard has some interesting things to say on that topic in his book "simulacra and simulation".

[KWP]

Oooh I like this ... reminds me of that song ‘standing on the outseide looking in’ is that an Aussie song ... hmmm can’t remember X

[KWP]

I have been meaning to send this one - your poem reminded me of this Aussie Classic - do you know it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9M7wNdteS4

[KWP]

Oooh I like this ... reminds me of that song ‘standing on the outseide looking in’ is that an Aussie song ... hmmm can’t remember X

[Gerald Parker]

Not sure what's happening but both my first review and then my reply to your reply and then your reply to keeping the remarks on site have disappeared. I only know that you have just replied about leaving things in view because it's in the email. I'll send this and see if it reaches you. Apologies for my second response which is out of order if my original review got wiped by circumstances unknown.

[Davidgeo]

I don't know why your original review got deleted if you didn't do it yourself. I am not the type of person to shy away from conflict over negative reviews, I find the negative one's far more entertaining than the generic compliments. Also... you said that it's not right to delete a review just because it paints you in a negative light... and then you delete that review because it paints you in a negative light ("out of order" as you said)? . So... it's okay for you to do something but not for others to do basically the same thing? Your actions and double standard based reasoning are that of a hypocrite.

[Davidgeo]

… don't delete this review like you did the last one. Even if you do I've taken a screenshot of it for the sake of transparency and will just put it right back up myself.

[Gerald Parker]

These are the facts. 1. I wrote a review of your poem last night because you requested it. 2. This morning I found that it had been deleted. I thought you had deleted it so I replied regretting the fact it had been deleted. 3. It then turned out that you had not deleted the review so therefore I withdrew my complaint as there was no point in my leaving it on view as it didn't apply. There was only ever one review - somehow it got deleted. The second item was not a review - it was a complaint. These are the facts and there is no hypocrisy in my actions.

[Davidgeo]

You can play mental gymnastics if you want to but it's really quite simple... if it makes you look bad you will delete something from public view, but, if it makes someone else look bad they should not delete that thing from public view. Your actions fundamentally do not reflect what you said in the review you deleted. I find you to be intellectually dishonest because of that. Have a nice day.

[Gerald Parker]

What makes you think my review (there was only one review) made you look bad? The second thing I wrote was not a review. I was perfectly entitled to remove it.

[Davidgeo]

In the previous "review" that you deleted, unjustly scolding me for deleting your other review, you basically said that just because it was critical of my poem that was no reason to delete it. To be honest, I don't think you really make anyone but yourself look bad but that is essentially what you said. If you wouldn't have deleted that review this conversation could've been more transparent but I don't think that's your goal here... and I don't think being open and transparent are qualities of your character in general given the way you've decided to handle things here. And of course, you are entitled to do whatever you want... to include acting hypocritically and essentially being intellectually disingenuous, and I am entitled to point that out as I see fit. Just because you are entitled to do something doesn't mean you aren't a hypocrite for doing it. But this has nothing to do with what you are "entitled" to do and everything to do with how you use that "entitlement" and how it defines you as a human being within this interaction. I have no respect for people that carry on as you have carried on in our brief interaction. It would be wise of you to move on from this subject as we have already both made our positions clear and further debate is likely not going to be productive.

[Gerald Parker]

My review was NOT critical of your poem! I spent a long time on it and was peeved to find it had disappeared. Never mind, eh?

[Davidgeo]

I don't know whether it was or was not, I didn't get a chance to read the very first one... but I did read the second one and that was the gist of it. Again, I don't care what kind of review you leave, but when you go around deleting things and pretending you said something else entirely knowing it can't be proved because of said deletion I'm going to hold you in low regard. Even the super angry ad hominin based attack reviews I've gotten in the past stay up... and I have more respect for those people than the person that deletes things so they can say whatever they want to make themselves look better. It was only yesterday man, I remember what you typed in that second review, my memory isn't so horrible that I would forget a single day out... why you are playing this bullshit game is beyond me but you should probably give it up as it's not going to work on me.

[Gerald Parker]

Grrr. You seem determined to have the last word. I don't know why you talk about "the very first review" as there was only one review and my response when I found it had been deleted was not a review. Nor did it contain any inkling of what my detailed study of your poem was about. Have the last word if you want. It will make interesting reading for your admirers. I hope your last word will not be as inflammatory as your previous outbursts.

[Davidgeo]

Um, it's quite clear why I mentioned the "first review"... I'm responding to what you said about it and noting that I didn't read it but did read what you wrote about it in the second "review". That's very obvious, maybe you should go back and read the comment since you clearly aren't understanding the situation. And it's not about the "last word", its about you continuing to distort the truth. I'm just not the sort of guy to let someone get away with the kind of bullshit you're trying to get away with. You are what are to me because you said what you said and then tried to delete things to paint yourself in a more favorable light... that you won't take responsibility for it shows me what kind of person you are - and I have no respect for that. My comments on this aren't "outbursts", they are rational and measured given the situation you are trying to manufacture. There are far more inflammatory things I could say to you given what you have shown me yourself to be in this interaction.

[john l smith]

All very interesting
I ended up watching the Sedins playing keep away.
I wonder if I might just stay away from the uncanny valley
Dave B

[Davidgeo]

The Sedin brothers do look a little creepy.