A Plea for Caleb’s Humanity

Published March 17, 2020 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey Guys,

Although I could rant for pages regarding all the things you covered in your deep dive (thank you, btw-love what you do), I was intrigued by your comments that Caleb might be an unknowing AI. There was much that you talked about that made me think that that might be the case.

However, I personally hope that Caleb is indeed human. For several years I volunteered for an organization devoted to helping disabled vets. And Caleb reminds me of one veteran that I got to know quite well. He had joined the army right out of high school and served in Iraq. During his time there, a bomb hit the tank he was in and his brain was scrambled by the impact. And to make things worse, he watched his best friend die. The VA in its wisdom prescribed opioids, and then eventually cut him off. So he turned to heroin.

I lost touch with him, but during the time I knew him, he struggled with addiction, sleep disorders, and because he was essentially a high school kid who wasn’t allowed to grow up due to his injuries and the mismanagement of his treatment, he just couldn’t seem to make good decisions. He nearly died due to a heroin overdose and the last I heard from him, he was in jail because he was conned by a truly bad guy and took the fall. I truly hope that Caleb is human because I see in his character a mirror of the people whom our society has used and cast away.

If Caleb is human, then he represents those veterans who served our country and now suffer terribly from the heartless way our government treated them when they returned. To me, that is just what Caleb represents.

As I write this, I am crying, because it has brought up memories of another veteran with whom I had a real connection with. I am elderly and this man was somehow the son I never had. I didn’t see him that often, but there was a real connection. He was smart, funny, with a beautiful wife and daughter. But because he was in chronic pain and also addicted to opiods. He shot himself and died.

I want Caleb to be human because I want the audience to feel for a person whom society has marginalized and what a true waste that is.

Thanks again for all you do,
Nancy from Philly

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