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Tavaiel26 wrote: ↑03 Apr 2020, 11:27 It sort of goes into the creepiest aspects of the book. Think for example of feral children. Without guidance in their early years, some of these children never catch up to normal human behaviors. Tau didn't know any different.
You are right, Tau was programmed, but this is something you can do to humans as well! Experiments into these areas were done a lot in the early years of psychology... before we started to care about things like morality and ethics.
Even with Kalin, when he starts falling into the belief that he is a clone. The process known as "breaking" is actually used a lot in gangs and human trafficking. There is a limit to how much the human physique can take before it just accepts whatever brings less pain.

I'm sorry if this got super dark! I actually studied psychology and criminology and I found these aspects of the book super interesting!

Thanks for the insight! It is very interesting what can be done to the mind. I've been sort of freaked out since I saw a video on Youtube of the robot Sophie!! She is what I thought about when I first started reading this book. Tau reminded me of her, he was just more advanced. If you've never seen her check her out! To me she's scary!

Nerea wrote: ↑03 Apr 2020, 13:47 I don't think the title robot fits him because he was trained to be obedient to the scientists in the absence of someone to challenge his loyalty to the scientists. So when Kalin kept questioning him, he may have started to have some doubts about the training. Just like humans, they may seem okay with a certain way of lifestyle until somebody else with a different view about the lifestyle questions them, that's when they start having doubts about the lifestyle they are leading and decide to follow a new path introduced to them. For me Project Tau is a clone.

Elmaestro wrote: ↑03 Apr 2020, 14:23 I don't think Project Tau seemed like a robot because it is the questionings by Kalin that made him realize he is more human and that he can live freely without being controlled... This is part of what made him escape because he wanted to be free of mind!

leximutia wrote: ↑03 Apr 2020, 18:36 Personally, I did not see him as a robot. I saw him as a child that had never been aware of the concept of free will. His life (six months in length at the time we meet him) had taken place only within the GenTech facilities, and he never knew anything else outside of doing what he was told. He had even been punished for any "unnecessary" questions, quashing any curiosity he had to begin with.

I wouldn't say that he was programmed. I'd say he was -- as Kata put it -- brainwashed and just blank. Later on, we see that Tau did have the capacity to question, to want, and to think for himself. He just never had the space to express or to exercise any of these aspects of himself.

Nerea wrote: ↑03 Apr 2020, 13:47 I don't think the title robot fits him because he was trained to be obedient to the scientists in the absence of someone to challenge his loyalty to the scientists. So when Kalin kept questioning him, he may have started to have some doubts about the training. Just like humans, they may seem okay with a certain way of lifestyle until somebody else with a different view about the lifestyle questions them, that's when they start having doubts about the lifestyle they are leading and decide to follow a new path introduced to them. For me Project Tau is a clone.

B Creech wrote: ↑03 Apr 2020, 19:53

leximutia wrote: ↑03 Apr 2020, 18:36 Personally, I did not see him as a robot. I saw him as a child that had never been aware of the concept of free will. His life (six months in length at the time we meet him) had taken place only within the GenTech facilities, and he never knew anything else outside of doing what he was told. He had even been punished for any "unnecessary" questions, quashing any curiosity he had to begin with.

I wouldn't say that he was programmed. I'd say he was -- as Kata put it -- brainwashed and just blank. Later on, we see that Tau did have the capacity to question, to want, and to think for himself. He just never had the space to express or to exercise any of these aspects of himself.

Very well said! It will be interesting to see what happens to him out in the world if that is how the next book portrays him.

DEEPA PUJARI wrote: ↑06 Apr 2020, 13:38 I definitely think that Tau was a clone and not just a robot. Tau had feelings and was learning from experience, which is a hard trait to find in robots. The only problem with Tau was that he did not know how to express himself and how to react. He had no memory of how to handle situations.
Humans behave in a certain way because of past experiences. But with Tau he had no past experiences.
He was gradually learning and creating a memory of his own. I see Tau as a small child who does what it is asked to do, until it is capable of making the right choices. I think Tau would also learn eventually.