Sometimes a technology is so awe-inspiring that the imagination runs away with it - often far, far away from reality. Robots are like that. A lot of big and ultimately unfulfilled promises were made in robotics early on, based on preliminary successes.

Luckily, unreasonable expectations go hand in hand with naive young scientists. The more naive the better - otherwise we would never have the audacity to try and build a 22,000-mile-high space elevator or some sprawling underwater hotel.

How much change can a person absorb before everything loses meaning Living for its own sake isn't life. People need meaning as much as they need air.

People need meaning as much as they need air. Lucky for us, we can give meaning to each other for free. Just by being alive.

The goal for many amputees is no longer to reach a 'natural' level of ability but to exceed it, using whatever cutting-edge technology is available. As this new generation sees it, our tools are evolving faster than the human body, so why obey the limits of mere nature?

It's hard to guess how smart the machines are, but a good rule of thumb is that they're always smarter than you think.

You want to know what a robot's designed for. And if it's doing something outside the scope of what it's made to do, you should be very suspicious.