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, ag