Do droids have feelings?

OK here is a random thought that I had. D droids have feelings? The reason that I asked this is that there are a few snipets here and there in the books. Like Leia (I think it was her but I am not sure which book) at one point tell C-3PO that she is going to make it so droids don't have memory wipes anymore.

I know that Luke has a standing order not to wipe R2's memory but I think it's more than just because he talks with the X-Wing so well.

I know that there are more references out there but like I said this is just a random thought and I would like to know what everyone else thinks on this matter.

 

Depends on their programming.

 

My toaster gets sad when I cook pop-tarts in the microwave ....

 

It's difficult to say... Can they feel pain? Based on what we saw in ROTJ, then yes, and obviously that would cause displeasure/sadness. However, since their definition of pain is based on their own programming, it would seem logical that you could simply delete that algorithm, making them without feeling.

Many droids are left without memory wipes, R2 and C3PO had gone without them for some time prior to ANH, and 3PO hadn't had one between AOTC and TPM, whistler(Corran Horn's Droid) hadn't had a memory wipe in some time, ... Similarily, many droids are given memory wipes on a regular basis. It would appear that droids getting memory wipes would keep down the amount of memory being used, making them more efficient. However when they go without memory wipes, they seem to get a bit more of a human feel to them, such as Anakin's droid in Conquest...

 

Depends on how they are written.

 

It depends on the droid. I don't think some random Gonk Box or one of those mouse droids have feelings. But protocal droids? Definetly. they at least act like they do. It helps them relate to humans (and other aliens) better. Any droid that gets a lot of contact with people would probobly develop emotions as a result.

 

don't forget Artoo's little romance with a pink droid in the Great Heep!

 

Was that during the new rebellion? the great heep stuff i mean....

 

I've never accepted that nonsense about robots having feelings. They don't. They're artificial intelligence, and they have artificial emotions, which can be changed at the flip of a switch. They're non-sentient, non-living automata, nothing more than highly sophisticated machines.

 

Of course droids have emotion. Artoos loyalty was so great that he trusted Luke and went to Jabbas palace. If Artoo didn't trust Luke he'd tell him to **** off.

 

Threepio and YVH-1 philosophised about the nature of life and duty in Rebel Stand. That doesn't seem like something that mindless automatons would do.

Also, human emotion is only slightly more complex than that of artificial intelligence. We feel sad when electronic messages from our nerves cause chemical imbalances in our brains. We are happy when our glands release hormones into our bloodstream, dulling our senses. Changing a human's emotional state is only slightly more complex than changing a droids. While changing a droid's emotion is caused by flipping a switch, changing a humans is as easy as inserting a needle into a vein or digesting a pill (can we say "ritaline")

A droid's desire for life is not that much different than a human's. A droid fears death because a code in their system tells them that it is favorable to avoid anything that can cause it harm. A human's fear of death is caused by a bit of left-over instinct ingrained into the back of our brains, which tells us that pleasurable hormones will be released into our bloodstream if we were to not be hurt or killed.

If a droid were made as human-like as possible and programmed with a sufficient amount of emotion and learning programs, and if it were not told that it was a droid, it would act and believe that it were a regular human, and other people would believe it to be so. The droid would not have a "soul" per se, but it would still fear for itself, seek pleasurable experiences and avoid situations which would cause it to feel displeasure. That basically guarantees it to have the full emotional range of humans.

While writing this post, I have convinced myself that the more independent, advanced, and un-memory-wiped droids like Threepio, Artoo, and Whistler do have emotion, and other droids like YVH-1 are not too far away from having their own form of emotions.

 

You know droids would have more stable emotions with artificial emotions than humans with natural emotions. Tumors, accidents, chemical imbalances, hormonal changes, drugs, and other factors, can all influence human emotion. While droids would be able to have consistant emotions. Infact humans can be reprogrammed nearly as much as droids using brainwashing, surgery, drugs and other means.

Though I'm sure glitches could crop up that could wildly effect droids emotions in similer ways to how human emotions go to extremes.

 

Well, it deepends on the droid. A factory fresh droid, which is to say a droid just off the assembly line and who has not been active for very long, would be unlikely to have feelings. A droid who recieves constant memory wipes to erase or prevent the development of a personality would be unlikely to have feelings. Yet droids with personalities are going to be likely to have feelings.

Threepio is constantly afraid of having something bad happen to him in the OT. He also shows pride in his abilities as a translator. Artoo displays fear, bravery, courage, loyalty, lonliness, and even, as has been pointed out, love. Gate/Mynock and Whistler have displayed all the same traits as Artoo with the exceptions of lonliness and love. Eve-Ninedenine displays sadistic joy in torturing other droids. Squeaky was easily annoyed with folks doing things he didn't care for, such as speaking out of turn. Emkay, the droid sidekick to Ace Azzameen and the narrator of Ace's story in the X-wing Alliance strategy guide, felt jealous at times at not being allowed to fly a ship or fires weapons while still feeling rather proud of Ace. He also felt horrified at the treatment of some astro units by rebel pilots. 1-1A displays a bit of fear at the idea of being destroyed.

And those are just some examples of droids and feelings.

 

ANH - C-3PO: Thank the maker! This oil bath is going to feel sooooo good!



ESB - C-3PO: "OUCH! THAT HURT!"

When Chewbacca didn't bend down to get in the Falcon.


So yes, droids do have some feeling.


EDIT-Oh you mean EMOTIONAL?

 

Since we're called to suspend our disbelief - e.g. in Hyperspace, Death Stars, Sun Crushers, ooglith masquers - then doing the same with emotive droids isn't too much of a stretch imo!

 

It is so simple to understand that they do have feelings. Watch the movies again!

 

they got 'em, remember early on in the NJO where c3po contemplates death and what it would be like, or in vector prime when he was scared of nom anor?? yeah at least protocol droids have 'em.