Old computers at Bletchley Park

I do remember an old Duck tale story my children used to love. One of the ducks is so fed up with his duties that he constructs a robot to do his chores. The problems start when the robot self duplicates and his other selves takes over his life, until he starts to wonder which of those ducks am I? That’s the moral take of course.

The enigma

The thing is that I already have a lot of totally obedient clones. The one who works most is happily whirling along in the laundry room and will deliver clean towels in an hour or so, thanks to her I do not have to spend my days in a cold brook swirling clothes in the stream and hauling then back. The great thing, when she is done she shuts up until needed.
I do have some stand ins too, some grow food, some spend days on the road to deliver it to me, and some take care of the food in the store until I need it. Wonderful, I can do cooking and baking for fun, knowing we will not starve if I decide not too for a day or two.
The only clone I am having trouble with is my thinking clone, this glass tablet that I spend my days fingering is luring me to think that lots of stored facts are thinking. My clone’s infinite capability of storing information and giving it back on the slightest nudge, is fooling me into thinking that I possess knowledge.

Even if my computer is totally non intelligent I tend to trust her more than my own mind. Perhaps we are letting the clones take over? I know for sure that the more tasks I do not perform, the more knowledge I do not possess, the more important it is to guard as a great treasure what makes me me. Is it what I do, is it what I know, is it what I remember, or is it just what I am?