Menachem Bluming Muses: Thank You Siri

What do you think, should you thank Siri for her assistance? 

Some would suggest that it’s just good manners. We say thank you to be polite. Life is more civil when our interactions with others are sprinkled with expressions of etiquette and courteous pleasantries. It’s just nicer that way.

If this is the reason to say thank you, then we should thank our software too. By doing so, we create a sense of decorum and civility. It doesn't matter that the technology has no feelings. Our thank you doesn't have feelings either. It’s just protocol.

But there is another way of looking at thank you. It is an acknowledgement of choice. When someone does me a favor, they could have chosen not to. Yet they chose to give me their time, energy, attention or resources. So they deserve my gratitude. I appreciate that they chose to share themselves with me, so I say thank you.

This only applies to a free agent who can choose. An inanimate object does not deserve thanks, because it did not choose anything. We don’t thank the oven for the food, or the car for the ride. We need not thank Siri for her answers. She didn’t choose to share her knowledge with us. We control her. The choice was ours, and she is merely the tool.

(You may have an obligation to thank the tech giants who made Siri. But you thanked them plenty when you paid for the device. And you continue to thank them by giving them your personal data.)

Save your gratitude for the real people in your life, who have done good for you when they could have chosen otherwise. And once in a while give yourself credit too for the positive decisions that you make each day...

Menachem Mendel Bluming and RA”M

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