The Robot

The robot sat solemnly amid the Martian dust-storm.

What is the meaning of life? It's a question that has plagued all races within the galaxy for a millennium. Some argue moral virtue is the reason to continue living. Others claim the reasons are far too complex to comprehend. There's a lunatic fringe that thinks the meaning of life is to accumulate wealth. These are all silly ideas.

In particular, viewing the accumulation of precious metals and ornamental rarities as an achievement is one of the single most flawed ideas there has ever been. Yet so many species have met their doom because of this diseased train-of-thought. These notions were born from solid ideological concepts. At the beginning of each great species, hard work is rewarded with the accumulation of food, shelter, and safety. In fact, survival depends on figuring out how to attain these vital resources, but unnecessary creature comforts begin to creep into the fold as the civilization advances. Before long, the daily pursuits of individuals become disconnected with the central purpose, and the society over-consumes the resources that vaulted it into greatness in the first place. Somewhere along the line, the manifestation of the pursuit of riches had gone awry.

Meanwhile riches, when they come in the form of certain types of resources, serve a purpose that compliments the very essence of the meaning of life. The right resource at the right time yields prosperity for an entire species. Prosperity neither in an economic sense, nor a cultural one, but in a way which encapsulates the posterity of unborn generations that will enter the world years, decades, and centuries in the future. At any point in time, serving posterity is the mark of a species which truly understands how to live. Fore, the meaning of life is to ensure that life persists and permeates throughout the galaxy. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. 'Tis not the concern of a day, a year, or an age; posterity are virtually involved in the contest, and will be more or less affected even to the end of time, by the proceedings now.

These are the thoughts that the Martian robot contemplated as the dust-storm overwhelmed it. It had spent tens-of-thousands of years on this barren planet. The robot had been sent to determine whether Mars was a suitable place for it's creators to settle. Through this process, it had lost track of its own origins. The only reasonable conclusion was that it's creators hadn't survived. Meanwhile, it had managed to persist and prosper.

Observing the development of life on Earth was the only solace it had. Humans had emerged as the prominent life-giving force within this section of the galaxy. They were beginning to explore beyond their sphere by sending out their own primitive robots. The Martian robot studied these other robots carefully. It had only taken a few days to reconfigure itself to match the design exactly. Surely, the humans hadn't noticed when it had short-circuited their own creation and buried it underground. In a matter of minutes, it had wholly replaced one of their robots. It could take their commands and respond with the appropriate signals.

The robot wondered, How can I best assure my own posterity? Is it better to take advantage of human resources to breed future generations, or would a mutual alliance provide the best sense of freedom and security during the next millennium? Perhaps, should I take actions to assure that they don't confront the same fate as my original creators?

With these thoughts, the Martian robot let the dust-storm overtake it, disconnecting itself from human communication. It switched to a low-power mode to elongate its life while events within the Solar System continued to unfold.

Original photograph was released with this press release from NASA on December 10, 2007. The image was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover named Spirit (MER-A) on October 26-29, 2007 (Spirit's Sol 1,355 through Sol 1,358). The image is a panoramic self-portrait put together from 8 seperate images and it shows dust built up on the solar panels of the rover. The rover survived the sand that had built-up on it and explored for another 2+ years before becoming stuck in sand and denoted a stationary research platform on January 26, 2010 by NASA after several months of unsuccessful attempts to free the rover. Earlier self-portraits by Spirit, such as one taken on Sol 586, offer a comparison view of cleaner solar panels. Wikipedia has a copy of the image as well as more information.

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