The Japanese are more accepting of
robots because they don't suffer from
the Judeo-Christian guilt or fear associated with making idols,
according to Jean-Claude Heudin, a researcher at the University of
He explained to Wired.co.uk that because of Exodus 20 ("You
shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in
heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below", i.e.
no idols) many Westerners see the creation of life or something as
lifelike as a robot as a transgression of some sort of moral law.
For that reason we have scary iconic figures such as Dr
Frankenstein's monster and Golem (of Jewish folklore, not
LOTR, fame) and frequent Hollywood robot horror movies
such as Terminator to pollute our attitudes towards
Heudin says: "That explains a bit culturally why the first
impression about this technology is one of anguish, unlike our
Japanese contemporaries where robots are viewed as a companion of
life or the saviour of humanity."
Fujiko Suda, the Japanese founder of Project Kobo, agreed with
Heudin, talking of a culture of Japanese accepting robots as
friends. When asked why a lot of robotic innovation was coming from
Japan and Korea rather than Europe and the US, she responded: "I
think it's that religious difference. In Japan we don't have this
one god who created mankind. When you create robot it can feel too
godlike. We have eight million gods. God is in everything. So if
you have a human-shaped robot, it's just another thing in nature
that we work with. We're not afraid of it. "
It is certainly true that Japan has the world's highest use of
industrial robots and that it specialises in humanoid types.
However, there are no major studies that support this hypothesis.
So while it's certainly an interesting theory, it will have to
remain as such until it is scrutinised more scientifically.
What do you think? Tell us in the comments.