Would you have a difficult time killing a robot if it was begging for mercy

Question

Those are all questions YOU need to find the answers to kiddo!

Answer 1

I think it would depend on how anthropomorphic the robot was...

Answer 2

It depends on two things.

1. Why do I want to kill it?

2. Can a robot be considered alive or conscious?

As for the first point if the robot was evil or intending to harm me in some way then it would make it easier to kill it. If it wasn't then I would have no motivation to kill it.

The second point relies on how advanced the robot is. If it's basically an electric can opener which can say "please, please, don't kill me, pleeeeaaase"  then it wouldn't be a problem. What's more- it wouldn't be alive. Thus killing it wouldn't even be an option.

If it is advanced enough to be considered conscious, which may or may not be possible, then it would be more difficult and would depend entirely on point 1.

Finally, is the possession of consciousness enough for something to be considered alive and therefore killable? This is the trickiest part trees are alive butr not conscious.

Basically- I have no idea.  

Answer 3

I would have difficulty killing anything deliberately.

The key word here is "killing".   If you are applying it to a robot, it appears that you are attributing to the robot a life that can be killed.  In that case, assuming the society had an adequate legal system, killing a robot would be similar to killing a human.

Please note that I am distinguishing between "turning the robot off" verses "killing" it.  Killing here would mean the irrevocable destruction of the robot's mind.  Turning it off implies that it could be turned back on.

Answer 4

Is the robot evil? Why do you need to kill it? Why is it begging for mercy in the first place?

Answer 5

I hate machines for what they did to my family. those heartless SOB,s Kidnapped my wife and daughter. They pretended to be missionaries from Honduras so i let them in for a glass of water. then before i knew it they transformed into these robotic mantis like creatures and began disecting my family for research in front of my eyes. I only survived by short circuiting one of them with the same water that i had previously offered them. ive been running since. so the answer is yes i have no problem killing robots.

Answer 6

I guess it depends on what creatures you believe can have a soul. I don't believe that robots have souls. There is also the consideration the robot may be programed to beg for mercy, seeing as robots are computer based entities and would be programed to have certain responses to certain behaviors. I wouldn't have issues killing a robot. Especially if I could blow it up, in a way it would be like destroying the fax machine in "Office Space".  

Answer 7

Nope, wouldn't bother me at all. Just pull the plug so to speak and walk away.

Perhaps if I feel like it later on I can raise it from the dead and reuse it. But I don't think so. A dead robot is a good robot.

Answer 8

It depends on how human the robot looked, and how convincing its pleas are.

If the robot in question was from the future and trying to, say, kill the future leader of the human rebellion after an apocalyptic computer revolution, I'd say no. I'd be down to blast him.

But Wall-E... that would be rough.

Answer 9

no its got no feelings

Answer 10

To kill something, it has to be alive. A robot is a machine, it can't feel, it can't love, and it can't want. It is not alive. Therefore, if you destroy a robot you are not killing anything. So no, I would not feel bad at all.  

Answer 11

No.  I would enjoy it, knowing it wasn't a real person.

Answer 12

It's a robot, so no...

Answer 13

Technically, you can't "kill" something if it was never alive

Anyways, I would just turn it off

xD