Step One of this lesson also on video!

Real Life Downloaded | High School Lesson 13 | Giver of Life from David C Cook on Vimeo.

Prior to your group time, write the following questions on a whiteboard: “What do parents do to prepare for a baby?” “What should these parents be anticipating?”

As students enter, ask them to look at the board and think about the questions posed. After all students have arrived and are gathered around the board, have students call out their answers to the first question about what parents do to prepare for a baby and write the various answers on the board. Some answers might be: prepare a nursery (generic colors may be used if parents don’t know the gender of the baby or often a girl-specific or boy-specific room is prepared in advance); create a registry of items that will be needed to care for a new baby and have a baby shower thrown for them; buy baby clothing and diapers in various sizes in anticipation of a growing baby; choose an obstetrician and go to many checkups including an ultrasound to determine health and gender; eat healthy foods; refrain from smoking, alcohol, or drugs during pregnancy; go to a parents-to-be class or a birthing class to prepare for the baby’s arrival, etc.

Next ask students what they think parents-to-be might be anticipating and write some of these answers on the board as well. Answers may include: becoming a family or growing their family with siblings; gaining a playmate for a sibling; being godly parents dedicated to raising the child well; parenting/disciplinary style; their own parents becoming grandparents and being a part of the baby’s life, etc.

Babies are anticipated for nine months, and definitely impact the world with their arrival. Although a mother gives birth to a child and the child born is a product of his or her parents’ DNA, the parents of the baby are not the givers of life! Technological advances can help parents conceive, but the fertility doctors and special science applied to helping an infertile couple doesn’t make those doctors givers of life either.

We’re going to watch a video clip about a robot named Erica. Erica was created by Japanese inventor Hiroshi Ishiguro. She has a team of researchers who work to make her more “human.” Although she seems to have been given life, she is lacking in some basic human capacities. Even though the researchers working on her would like her to become more and more humanlike, she is not and never will be a human. Let’s take a look and see the difference between being created and being given life.

Show the following video clip to your students [1:27].
My interview with Erica, the eerie Japanese robot.

Discuss:

• What do you notice first about Erica? (Answers will vary. Most students will note that she seems humanlike but may also say she doesn’t feel “human” at all once they watch her interactions with the people interviewing her.)

• Why is programing something not enough to make this robot come alive? (Answers will vary. Erica is a robot who may help humans in many capacities in the future. Erica, however, will never be alive. She does not have the gift of life or possess joy, and she never will be human.)

• What pros do you see of a robot such as Erica? (Answers will vary. Erica can help aid technology and science and may be able to be programmed to work and serve and answer questions for humans. That could be a useful thing and helpful to humans.)

• What cons do you see of a robot such as Erica? (Answers will vary. Erica may confuse humans. People could misuse her if they try to replace humans with her. Erica could malfunction and harm someone.)

A robot such as Erica has not been given life. It is interesting to think through her usefulness and potential, but it is obvious she is not human. Let’s compare Erica the robot to a human baby boy by watching the following short video.

Share this video with [2:04]:
Watch a Baby Transform From a Newborn to a Toddler in Just Two Minutes

• What are some of the main differences you see between Erica and the human baby? (Answers will vary but may include: There is obviously a joy of life in the baby that is lacking in the robot; Erica runs on programs and scripts while the baby’s movements and interactions are spontaneous, curious, and continually changing; the baby is growing and will continue to grow while the robot has a fixed age/persona.)

Note the differences between this living baby boy and the robot Erica. The life of this young baby shows the abundance that life is—real and full and wonderful. No matter how hard the creator/inventor of Erica tries to get Erica to look and act more human, he will never be able to give the robot the breath of life. That is why one is alive and the other is not. Today we’re going to talk about the true Giver of Life.