Project Tau

Use this forum to discuss the April 2020 Book of the month, "Project Tau" by Jude Austin
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Brenda Creech
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Re: Project Tau

Post by Brenda Creech »

tanner87cbs wrote: 11 Apr 2020, 01:11 I don’t think the project was robotic. I would lean towards rightfully ignorant. He was basically a toddler in a young mans body from one vantage point. An organic product of his environment.
That is a very good way of putting it, thanks!
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Post by Jocelyn Eastman »

B Creech wrote: 02 Apr 2020, 13:29 From the beginning, Project Tau was submissive to the scientists and did what they told him to do. Even when Kalin Taylor became his roommate, Project Tau still obeyed the scientists and still did not see anything wrong with his training. Only after Kalin kept questioning him, and trying to convince him that he was being abused did Tau begin to wonder and question himself. With that being said, did Project Tau seem more like a robot than a clone to anyone else?
To me, he did. Isn't a clone supposed to be the replica of another human, and if so, wouldn't he be able to think and reason on his own. Project Tau seemed "programmed" to me. What are your thoughts? I am very curious to see if I am missing the whole concept!
I think he was programmed, but people can be programmed. They can be brainwashed. Without any other stimuli or influence since his coming into the world, Tau would have been able to be programmed however the scientists wanted him to be. He’s not a robot though, he’s just a brainwashed clone.
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Post by Brenda Creech »

Jocelyn Eastman wrote: 13 Apr 2020, 19:02
B Creech wrote: 02 Apr 2020, 13:29 From the beginning, Project Tau was submissive to the scientists and did what they told him to do. Even when Kalin Taylor became his roommate, Project Tau still obeyed the scientists and still did not see anything wrong with his training. Only after Kalin kept questioning him, and trying to convince him that he was being abused did Tau begin to wonder and question himself. With that being said, did Project Tau seem more like a robot than a clone to anyone else?
To me, he did. Isn't a clone supposed to be the replica of another human, and if so, wouldn't he be able to think and reason on his own. Project Tau seemed "programmed" to me. What are your thoughts? I am very curious to see if I am missing the whole concept!
I think he was programmed, but people can be programmed. They can be brainwashed. Without any other stimuli or influence since his coming into the world, Tau would have been able to be programmed however the scientists wanted him to be. He’s not a robot though, he’s just a brainwashed clone.
I agree. I know he was a clone, he just made me think of a modern robot I saw on youtube named Sophia. The things they are programming robots to do is getting a little scary, and trying to clone a person is too!
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Post by Frannie Annie »

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.
This is pretty much how I interpreted Tau's behavior!
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Post by raindropreader »

I do believe you are missing the concept. As much as I wish it wasn’t so, humans are programmed and manipulated every single day and have been for all of eternity. If you only look at all the different cultures and social norms that have been in place throughout history you will see that the power of social conformity is great and can cause humans to override their own consciousness in order to be socially accepted.
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Post by Brenda Creech »

raindropreader wrote: 14 Apr 2020, 17:02 I do believe you are missing the concept. As much as I wish it wasn’t so, humans are programmed and manipulated every single day and have been for all of eternity. If you only look at all the different cultures and social norms that have been in place throughout history you will see that the power of social conformity is great and can cause humans to override their own consciousness in order to be socially accepted.
I agree that we are manipulated. I also believe it begins in childhood by parents. Not that they are trying to 'manipulate' their children, but they teach what they believe to be right and wrong and they base it on what is acceptable in society.
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Post by DragonLight877 »

So I agree with a lot of other people. Tau was only six months old. He had nothing in his mind, he was never trained to think freely. He does seem a bit robotic. But in reality that's what they wanted, they wanted biological robots. Ones that could work, listen, and obey. Once Kata came Tau started learning how to think and question things. How to reason out what was fair and what wasn't. Unfortunately, its easy to take these traits away from humans with the right conditions. I mean, its pretty dark. But look at people in abusive relationships. They are convinced they deserve it, that its normal. This situation isn't much different at all, besides the fact that Tau had no way to learn any other ways before Kata.
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Post by Brenda Creech »

DragonLight877 wrote: 18 Apr 2020, 12:38 So I agree with a lot of other people. Tau was only six months old. He had nothing in his mind, he was never trained to think freely. He does seem a bit robotic. But in reality that's what they wanted, they wanted biological robots. Ones that could work, listen, and obey. Once Kata came Tau started learning how to think and question things. How to reason out what was fair and what wasn't. Unfortunately, its easy to take these traits away from humans with the right conditions. I mean, its pretty dark. But look at people in abusive relationships. They are convinced they deserve it, that its normal. This situation isn't much different at all, besides the fact that Tau had no way to learn any other ways before Kata.
Those are very good points. I had not thought of the comparison to people in abusive relationships! You're right, that is all Tau knew until Kalin arrived! Thanks for bringing that out.
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Post by Jocelyn Eastman »

zhenya_reads wrote: 07 Apr 2020, 12:35 I also felt like Tau was programmed and didn't know anything else. I wanted to cry when it was revealed that Tau was actually raped and from his reaction it was obvious that he had feelings and that those feelings got heavily violated.

I was also wondering how this would work if Kata never came to the facility and Tau would be sent out to work - would he eventually realize that he's been enslaved or would the programming last?
I think he knew something was up because in the beginning he was curious and asked his handlers. Also, when Kata came, he kept being curious. I think the programming only went so far, but I do think he would have been a slave for awhile.
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Post by Jocelyn Eastman »

B Creech wrote: 14 Apr 2020, 04:42
Jocelyn Eastman wrote: 13 Apr 2020, 19:02
B Creech wrote: 02 Apr 2020, 13:29 From the beginning, Project Tau was submissive to the scientists and did what they told him to do. Even when Kalin Taylor became his roommate, Project Tau still obeyed the scientists and still did not see anything wrong with his training. Only after Kalin kept questioning him, and trying to convince him that he was being abused did Tau begin to wonder and question himself. With that being said, did Project Tau seem more like a robot than a clone to anyone else?
To me, he did. Isn't a clone supposed to be the replica of another human, and if so, wouldn't he be able to think and reason on his own. Project Tau seemed "programmed" to me. What are your thoughts? I am very curious to see if I am missing the whole concept!
I think he was programmed, but people can be programmed. They can be brainwashed. Without any other stimuli or influence since his coming into the world, Tau would have been able to be programmed however the scientists wanted him to be. He’s not a robot though, he’s just a brainwashed clone.
I agree. I know he was a clone, he just made me think of a modern robot I saw on youtube named Sophia. The things they are programming robots to do is getting a little scary, and trying to clone a person is too!
I saw a good answer here. I don’t see him coming off as robotic because he is curious and has sentience. He’s ignorant.
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Post by Diana Lowery »

I agree that this whole concept is scary, especially now when the whole world is being manipulated. How long does it take to lose our humanness? How long would it have taken for Kalin to have turned into a Tau?
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Post by monicamu »

I'm just pleased that someone was brave enough to tackle the issues of slavery and the ethics of cloning as these are generally by-passed and remain elephants in the room.
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Post by Samgum50 »

I think project Tau behaved that way was because it was how he was trained to behave. It was frustrating at times to read because he seemed like a programmed person. He only did what he was told.
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Post by Jorge Leon Salazar »

In particular, any project that manipulates genetics seems inconvenient to me. The creation of human or human life is something that should be left to nature. Genetic handling somehow scares me because undesirable aberrations could be created. For a science fiction book it is interesting as a subject.
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Post by Fem187 »

Project Tao to me is a human that grow up to became a very obedient savant that obey every instructor he was given. That is the moment of transmission or mutation to a very formidable robot.
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