The way droids are treated in Star Wars

I did not know where else to put this thread. The question is if anyone has ever been disturbed by the way droids are treated in this universe at times, even by the heroes? Some droids are obviously more or less sentient. They feel things like fear and anxiety and some have unique personalities. I don't think they necessarily start out this way, but it is possible the longer they go without a memory wipe the more "sentient" they become.

Which then we get to the next point which is the droids are basically slaves usually not given a choice. They are often treated as expendable, even by the good guys, though obviously you have some exceptions. Anakin seemed fond of R2, in the same way someone might be fond of a dog though.

So they are slaves sometimes forced to commit horrible deeds, even genocide. They obviously have feelings by some point in their existence and then if you memory wipe them at that point isn't it sort of like a lobotomy?

I don't know why, but I think about these things sometimes when I see a Star Wars droid get mowed down. I am actually reminded of one scene from the Clone Wars cartoon where it shows a bunch of damaged droids crawling on the ground and begging for help and their legs are damaged so they can't walk and they legitimately seem to be suffering.

Droids strike back with the droid gotra

That droid seem to have feelings doesn't mean they actually have them. For example, C3P0 seems to act as if he is afraid but does he actually feel fear or is it just a quirk in his programming? Impossible to tell really. I always figured they weren't truly sentient but that's just me.

Some droids with higher AI can simulate emotions. Others cannot.

See this video to learn more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAmyZP-qbTE

Originally posted by ares834
That droid seem to have feelings doesn't mean they actually have them. For example, C3P0 seems to act as if he is afraid but does he actually feel fear or is it just a quirk in his programming? Impossible to tell really. I always figured they weren't truly sentient but that's just me.

But what possible reason would there be to program the droids to experience fear? It's not just C-3PO either. Those canon fodder droids Sidious uses in the prequels also showed fear, hell they even use sarcasm too.

Because it makes for good TV.

Being sentient doesn't mean you deserve the same rights as everyone else. When you can be reprogrammed on a whim, for instance.

It might not mean that they deserve the same rights, but it does mean that they're slaves.

Which... they are. Droids are basically slaves who have no capacity to disobey.

It really doesn't, though. Honestly droids aren't alive so they can't be sentient. They also can't really be slaves, as opposed to tool. They just imitate life, and usually nowhere near as accurately because they are constantly memory wiped.

But what about droids like R2-D2? You don't think he has feelings for Luke or Leia? Or that he had feelings for Anakin?

The way BB-8 reacts when he is told that Poe was supposedly killed when the Tie sunk in the sand imo suggests droids may have the ability to develop feelings.

That's not what sentience means.

Originally posted by FreshestSlice
That's not what sentience means.

I know what it means. I'm not talking about sentience, I'm talking about feelings.

Droids are absolutely thinking, feeling beings and their essential slavery is one of the most ****ed up things in Star Wars. Because even the Jedi don't give a shit about it.

Droids are constantly memory wiped because otherwise they actually develop personalities and it becomes more inconvenient to continue enslaving them.

Holy tumblr, Batman!

Originally posted by Col. Valerian
I know what it means. I'm not talking about sentience, I'm talking about feelings.

I don't think it's a simulation.

They aren't even alive psychically. By definition it's a simulation.

How is a computerised "simulation" of feeling using electricity and metal worth any less than our bodies simulating it using meat and liquid?

Oh shit! It's getting real now.

Originally posted by Nephthys
How is a computerised "simulation" of feeling using electricity and metal worth any less than our bodies simulating it using meat and liquid?

Nobody used a trigger warning for mentions of slavery!!!
Words like butthurt are being thrown around that offend rape victims and emotionally weak people!!!
Dehumanization is being thrown around as well despite historical precedent of it being used to oppress people!!!!
I can't take it!!!

GIMME MY SAFE SPAAAAAACE SO I CAN CRY AND HUG MYSELF IN A CORNER!!!