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You have been privileged with the task of guiding a Humanoid 3000 through its Alpha and Beta development phases. There is still no official manual, but we have put together a quick start guide for your shared journey of discovery.

Humanoid bodies are made up of continually renewing tiny bags of water and protein called cells. They have an interior hinged skeleton, operated by pistons and solenoids referred to as muscles. These muscles require constant use to maintain full function. Gross motor skills are required to operate the larger limbs, such as arms and legs, while fine motor skills are needed for pincer grips and finger movements.

The soft, fragile, waterproof outer covering of Humanoids is called skin. It is prone to damage and is easily punctured or bruised. Please do not let this deter you from allowing higher risk beneficial activities or tool usage. They do have the amazing ability to self heal if the damage is not too severe! When using sharper tools, like craft knives, simply keep an eye on your Humanoid until they can use them safely. Sharp tool use can (and probably will) result in a small cut at some point. This is to be expected, even with the most careful of usage, but a small risk in comparison to the benefits that tool use will bring.

DEAR GUARDIAN…

The Humanoid out-of-the-box experience has very basic functions, consisting of drinking, excreting, sleeping, and primal emotion reflexes (such as love and fear). However, they do have the capacity to alter their source code. Activities like playing, reading, singing, music and physical motor activities constantly encourage these source code improvements. This means that the knowledge stored in the humanoid Organic CPU™ is in a constant state of flux. As the years progress, they begin to develop more complex systems such as self awareness, defiance, empathy, and irony.

Humanoids are hardwired to seek order, as they often find the world confusing. This sense making is often most profound when constructed in the head of the humanoid through acts of physical making or play. For example, out-of-the-box Humanoids explore gravity by repeatedly dropping small objects. Amazing. Making physical objects for a purpose especially heightens the Humanoids incredible problem solving abilities. They also take mysterious pleasure in making things for no purpose at all. Celebrate this!

What is unique to Humanoids, as opposed to A.I. simulators, is that have the genuine capacity to feel abstract emotions such as love, pain, frustration and hope. These will be all be covered in our next unmissable edition called, “Existence, and why cats think they are cooler than dogs”.

Official Humanoid 3000 terminology has been highlighted in bold throughout this guide

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Mindsets (and how to influence them)

STEAM Chip Uplevelling

How does it even do that?

Reboot Space

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CONTENTS

Spirit of Investigation Mode

Afterword

Risk Taking

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A F T A L TAlternative System Updates

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The Humanoid 3000 should come hard-wired with a factory standard Growth Mindset. This means they are programmed to believe that they have the capacity to develop, refine, and expand current capability modules. A standard growth mindset Humanoid can happily tolerate risk and failure.

Humanoids can develop a common processing anomaly that results in this mindset becoming fixed and they start to believe that their skills are also fixed and out of their control, and will only explore the things they have been told they are good at. Although many Humanoids can operate to high degrees of success with this mindset, it is thought to hinder their ability to learn new skills and to be able to access the highly desirable CPS function (Creative Problem Solving).

But fear not, there are some simple sweeps that you can run regularly to protect against, and even reverse the effects of, the fixed mindset. Our favourite is to de-stigmatize the fear of doing something new, badly. The sweep outlined below will have you and your Humanoid laughing at badly drawn portraits quicker than you can shout “anti-virus software”. The beauty (and often raw truth) of these automatic portraits is contained within their obvious faults ...

MINDSETS, AND HOW TO INFLUENCE THEM

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.

Art is knowing which ones to keep.

S C O T T A D A M S

C A R T O O N I S T

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MINDSETS, AND HOW TO INFLUENCE THEM

DRAW SOMEONE WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE PAGE

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Sit opposite each other with a pen and paper (no one around? Use a mirror).

O N E

Place pen on paper then lock eyes

Start drawing your opposites face without looking down at your marks

T W O

Seriously, no looking at all

When you are finished, put pen down and compare your pictures.

T H R E E

Laugh

Note how there is an element of raw honesty about them. Bizarre, huh?

F O U R

Do it again

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MINDSETS, AND HOW TO INFLUENCE THEM

TRY SAYING WORDS BACKWARDS

Record a word on a computer, using a free app like Audacity, play it backwards,

learn the backwards word, record the backwards word, play it backwards again.

O N E

How did it sound?

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I N V E N T O R

Wreck This journal - Keri Smith Penguin Books, 2006, ISBN 978-846-14445-5

A hilarious systematic process of creation through destruction. For anyone who winces when someone cracks the spine of a paperback.

TRYREADINGTHESE!

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The STEAM chip (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Maths) of all Humanoids can be up-levelled easily and cheaply by encouraging the practical application of engineering principles through den building. This can either be on a small scale by building houses for toys or imaginary beings with old card boxes, or big enough to fit a whole Humanoid in (or maybe even more). Humanoids, being primitive beings made primarily of tiny bags of water, do not have the ability to teleport or time travel, but dens can simulate this in the Humanoids highly-adaptable brain using imagination.

Inside, the sheets and covers used for Humanoid night recharging areas can be used as a fun way to strengthen their understanding of the physics of Earth, their native planet. Small cardboard boxes can be used as building blocks and taped together, or larger boxes can be opened up to form larger walls or lean-tos. Force and Gravity are experienced firsthand when den building, with sagging blanket ceilings and collapsing walls common problems to solve. Be creative with your space. The underneath of a table has a ready-made gravity-defying ceiling ready and waiting for some walls!

Once built, these are perfect spaces to role play, daydream (important abstract and purposeless thought processes with no set operation), and especially TO SLEEP IN. Bedtime doesn’t get much more fun than this...

STEAM CHIP UP-LEVELLING

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Dens may lead you into other worlds or times, or provide a portal into

a parallel world.

T H E D E N B O O K

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INDOOR DEN KIT

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Base structureA large table or a settee can form the bones of your den.

01 WallsBig, heavy cushions and chairs (face in for interior shelves, face out for flat walls).

02

Roof Drape a sheet over the whole structure.

03 AnchorUse clothes pegs/pins to join sheets and heavy books to anchor down the sides.

04

ComfortBlankets and pillows for a good night’s sleep.

05 LightTorches, flashlights, or battery powered lights to read by. Don’t forget to turn them off when not in use!

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Snacks Humanoids continually convert food into energy. Midnight feasts are essential.

07 FireBuild a pretend fire with sticks and tissue paper.

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GREAT READS ON THE NEXT PAGE

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TRYREADINGTHESE!

The Denbook, Jo Schofield & Fiona Danks, Frances LincoIn Publishing, 2016, ISBN 978-0-7112-3766-7

Dens inside, dens outside, dens from cardboards, dens from branches. It’s all here.

What it feels like to be a building - Forrest Wilson The Preservation Press, 1988, ISBN 0-89133-147-6

Pictorial explanations of how the pushes and pulls of architecture works. A great way to visualize why the walls of your den slide out when you put the roof on!

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STEAM CHIP UP-LEVELLING

Humanoids are amazingly inquisitive beings, capable of abstract concepts such as love and compassion. They also have a fascinating mode called “spirit of investigation” that leads them to explore and understand the complex world around them. This means understanding everything from why toast goes hard when it gets cold, to how a speaker works.

The technology that envelops our world is carefully hidden behind slick covers or inside fluffy plush exteriors. To understand what makes them work, you need to get a good look at the inside workings, and do this, you have start taking them apart. Lots of things can be unscrewed and unstitched (which makes them fixable), but some plastics are not made to be opened (or fixed) and will need to be dismantled with care. Broken toys are perfect for this. This investigation is a perfect opportunity for your Humanoid to add to their growing encyclopaedic knowledge of the world around them.

“SPIRIT OF INVESTIGATION” MODE

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“SPIRIT OF INVESTIGATION” MODE

Exploratorium Toy Take apart PDF https://tinkering.exploratorium.edu/sites/default/files/Instructions/toy_take_apart_0.pdf

Everything you need to know about taking toys apart safely from the fabulous Exploratorium Tinkerlab in San Francisco.

Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words - John Murray, Hamlyn, 2015, ISBN 978-1473620919

A big illustrated book explaining how lots of common things work in really simple terms and limited vocabulary. Hilarious, genius and compelling.

TRYREADINGTHESE!

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We treat the appliances in our daily lives like magic

boxes, never considering the bits and pieces they are made

from. Every manufactured object can be broken down into ever simpler parts until there is nothing left that we

can’t understand.

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PHYSICALP R A C T I C A L A C T I V I T Y

Taking a toy apart is great fun, but requires some care and possibly supervision. Easy things to take

apart have screws and can simply be undone, trickier things are plastic and clipped together. These require

breaking which can result in injury if not done with care and the protection of work gloves and goggles. Start of with something simple like an old radio or a keyboard.

Electronic pets like Furby’s are more advanced and may need adult help, but are well worth the effort.

Inspect your toy (what do you think it is made of?)

Draw your toy (make a diagram of what you think is inside your toy)

O N E

Carefully start to take your toy apart (you may need scissors, a screwdriver, or even a hacksaw)

T W O

Take apart the toy till you can take it apart no more

Inspect all its parts (what are they and what do they do?)

T H R E E

Re draw your diagram in a different colour your new findings

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DIGITALP R A C T I C A L A C T I V I T Y

Open up a picture as a text file. Look at the text information that makes up the image. Edit by copying and pasting a bit from the middle. Save and open again. Can you still open it?

Has anything happened?

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Taking risks and overcoming challenging situations is an essential part of living a meaningful and satisfying life for all Humanoids. Reasonable risk should be considered important, and fear of damage to the Humanoid should be weighed against their benefits and managed accordingly. Being able to judge the difference between things that are actually dangerous, and things that you need to just take care with is a great skill. It might just be that you need to use wear safety goggles, or use a clamp to hold things securely to make things safer. There is still a chance of a small cut or bruise, for sure, but this is inevitable. You just need to apply a little sense.

Exposure to encounters with risk allows Humanoids to learn how to manage the risks themselves. They also have a natural desire to take risks, so why not provide a suitable space for risk taking to take place, rather than forcing them to seek their risk taking in other less desirable environments?

Activities that involve risk often also have other amazing benefits. For example, all outdoor active play has an element of risk, but the healthy exercise and developmental benefits associated with the activity far outweigh the risk. The long- term developmental benefits of allowing young Humanoids to take risks also supports the notion that by facing up to adverse or difficult situations (where there is a possibility of injury or loss), builds character and personality traits such as resilience, self-reliance and adventurousness.*

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* Source: Tim Gill, ‘No Fear - Growing up in a Risk Averse Society’ Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 2007

...the best way to be safe is to learn how

to judge danger

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RISK TAKINGP R A C T I C A L A C T I V I T Y

Some may already be onto advanced risk taking, but if you are new to this, or cautious, you may want to build up trust with your Humanoid and danger.

Making things with a hot glue gun is a nice risk/benefit place to start.

Sure, they may burn their fingers, this comes with the territory, but nothing a quick dip in some cold water won’t fix. Relax, your Humanoid 3000 will be ok.

Take a small, unloved plastic animal - you are going to give it a second life.

O N E

Fire up the hot glue gun and stick the animal

onto the lid, trying not to burn fingers.

T H R E E

Paint. Ta-da! A swanky

storage jar.

F O U R

Well done, you have allowed your Humanoid 3000’s first, low risk,

high benefit activity to take place.

Grab a jam jar out of the recycling bin.

T W O

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Humanoids can become overwhelmed with excess data processing. The power required for Homework and Hothouse Mode can leave their Organic CPU™s overheated and in need of shutdown. First impulses are to put them into passive shutdown mode using a digital device, but over the long term, this degrades the battery life of your Humanoid 3000. Encourage the use of a reboot space instead. This is a creative space where they can simply tinker with tools and materials to make things. In this space, they will inadvertently enter Freestyle Mode, and benefit from a full system reboot while still active. It will strengthen both their creative problem solving algorithms and develop fine and gross motor skills in hands and arms. All essential for a happy, healthy Humanoid.

Start with access to simple craft activities that bring guaranteed success. With guidance, even a cautious maker can wield a hot glue gun. They are hot and can burn fingers, but will speed up making, and enable ideas to become prototypes in minutes. The benefits far outweigh the risks, and allow young Humanoids to develop the self confidence function.

Your Humanoid will quickly learn that it is normal to not get things right first time, and that perseverance and resilience often lead to success. This promotes a phenomena called

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self- esteem and allows them to develop a sense of their own strengths and weaknesses. Output is limited only by the Humanoid’s imagination. When supplied with resources, tools, knowledge, and support, the results will surely surprise and delight.

The Art of Tinkering: Karen Wilkinson & Mike Petrich

Curated by the Exploratorium’s Tinkering studio, this book shares the worlds of 150 makers, with thought provoking approaches and ideas. A true celebration of making in it’s many forms.

DIY : https://www.diy.org

Simply the best community platform for young makers. Content made, shared and commented on by children. Based in San Francisco, used all over the planet.

TRYREADINGTHESE!

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REBOOT SPACEP R A C T I C A L A C T I V I T Y

These can be tailored to your humanoids needs, but a basic starter kit might include:

Masking Tape, Hot Glue Gun, Small Sharp Scissors, Cutting Mat, Craft Knife, Tape measure, steel ruler, needles, pins, thimble, pom pom makers, hole punch, screwdrivers, hammer, safety goggles, bone folder, pliers, soldering iron, japanese hand saw, hand drill, awl, pencil, bead loom

Sequins, lolly sticks, washi tape, pipe cleaners, beads, elastic bands, string, tin foil, copper tape, wool, scrap card, leds, rope, felt, batteries

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Humanoids love to ask questions. Why is the sky blue? How much do clouds weigh? How does a remote control work? If you have not been updating your own programmes regularly, you may struggle with some of the answers, but this is fine. It is ok to say, “I don’t know, how can we find out?” It might be a book, or a newspaper article, or on the internet, but the trick is to find the fact then check, re-check, and check again. This is called the Good Life Rule and can be deployed way beyond simple fact-checking.

Some questions don’t even have answers, and are set to simply make us wonder why we are even here in the first place. Can a dog be kind? Do computers believe in God? Is it ever possible to learn nothing? These are all questions that will flex and exercise your Humanoid’s Organic CPU™ with reasoning and logic conundrums.

To help you with some of the more obvious Earth-based technology questions, we have provided you with a quick guide. It highlights the most common technology building blocks found on Earth at this time, and describes them using easy to understand Humanoid 3000 syntax and terminology.

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You don’t have to be able to build physical things with this primitive Humanoid tech, but it helps to have a vague idea of how to express their functions using standard human communication protocols. The question of how a solar panel works will come up (it actually converts radiant energy, primarily from the nearest star, into electricity), so you might as well be prepared with a passable answer.

Disclaimer: By the time you have read this, there will already be new technology releases that are not mentioned here. We accept no responsibility for providing an up-to-date list of emerging technologies in this guide. Junior hover shoes and hydrogen-powered teleportal devices do not yet exist, despite recent fabricated news claims.

MOTORA motor will turn

electrical energy into mechanical energy.

MICROPHONEA device that transforms

sound waves into electrical signals.

Microphones are used to record sounds, or to measure ambient noise.

SCREENSScreens are made up of tiny pixels arranged in a grid. We see them in smartphones, tablets,

computers, televisions, and small gadgets.

MAINSA high voltage power

supply requiring connection to a mains

socket, just like the ones in your house.

SOLARA panel that converts light into electricity.

BATTERYA low voltage portable power supply. Batteries

can be rechargeable or disposable.

CAMERACameras record

images and video.

TEMPERATURE SENSORA sensor that detects

changes in temperature.

SWITCHA device for

completing or breaking an electrical circuit.

HEADPHONE JACKA socket that connects

with a mini jack, the connection typically

found on headphones.

LEDA light emitting diode

(LED) is a simple electronic light that consumes very little power and is used in everything from bus

displays to status lights.

SPEAKERA speaker converts

electrical signals to sound waves by moving a cone

back and forth depending on the sound that needs

to be produced.

BUTTONA device for completing or breaking an electrical

circuit. This one is normally circular and only

stays on momentarily.

INFRAREDInfrared is a way of wirelessly

communicating with light that is invisible to humans, commonly used in TV remotes. Infrared

connections are possible over short distances and must have minimal physical obstructions.

WIFIWiFi is the most commonly used

wireless internet connection technology. Our laptops and

phones use it to connect to our home internet router. WiFi can pass through walls and works

over medium distances.

LIGHT SENSORA sensor that changes

the amount of electricity that passes

through it depending on the amount of ambient

light it measures.

MICROPHONEA device that transforms

sound waves into electrical signals.

Microphones are used to record sounds, or to measure ambient noise.

ACCELEROMETERA sensor that measures motion and acceleration

with really small springs to recognise

movements, gestures, and sudden drops.

BLUETOOTHBluetooth is a way of communicating with

radio waves. Bluetooth is effective below 10 metre distances and

can pass through physical obstructions.

PROXIMITY SENSORA sensor that sends

sound waves out and waits until they bounce back to measure how

far away it is from other objects.

THE CLOUDThis is a web server

accessed via an internet connection. You can push information into it, or pull

information from it.

GPSThe Global Positioning

System relies on satellite signals from space to determine a device’s

location on our planet. It only works outdoors.

PROCESSORProcessors are

essentially brains that compute inputs

and outputs and communicate with different devices.

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As well as your pre-programmed user guide, there are lots of self help manuals to help you provide the best springboard for your Humanoid 3000. Borrow, buy, and share with other Guardians. The important thing is to keep your mind open to new ideas, both for your own system updates and for your Humanoid 3000.

Happy Guardianship!

ALTERNATIVE SYSTEM UPDATES

The Little Book of Thunks, Ian Gilbert Crown House Publishing, ISBN 978-184590062-5

A pocket sized book of 260 questions to make your brain go ouch! If I borrow a million pounds am I a millionaire? When you comb your hair is it art?

Unbored - The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun, Joshua Glenn & Elizabeth Foy Larsen, Bloomsbury, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4088-3025-3

A massive book with something for everyone, from recording the colours of burning chemicals in a fire with a notebook to setting up a DIY natural home spa.

This is not a Maths Book - Anna Weltman Ivy Kids, 2017, ISBN 978-1-78240-205-3

This book is in the middle of the venn diagram of art meeting math. Love Art and get into math. Love Math and get into Art.

Drawing is a Class Act : Meg Fabian Brilliant Publications, 2005, ISBN 978-1-903853-60-3

This set of primary school drawing resources for ages 5 - 11 are filled with amazing 45 minute explorations and guidance that let even the most inexperienced artist help their children to develop drawing skills, both from observation and imagination.

OKIDO magazine :http://www.okido.co.uk/

Cast aside all the normal news-stand children’s comics and buy this instead for your 3 - 8 year olds. Beautifully illustrated, and explains the science of our everyday in a fun and interactive way. Blood circulation using a wooden train track...genius.

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MAKE magazine: http://makezine.com/

The inspirational driving force behind the Maker Movement and coordinator of global Maker Faires.

Invent to Learn: Sylvia Libow Martinez & Gary S. Stager

A one stop shop to get brief history of making, followed by practical guidance and examples of how we can embed it into our children’s education. An inspirational read for those who want to go further.

Make Design Play: Margaret Honey & David E. Kanter Routledge, 2013, ISBN 978-0-415-53920-3

This is a resource full of case studies exemplifying why and how to introduce the power of making into our young people’s education to change it for the better. Buy it read it, give it to your local school!

AQUILA magazine: https://www.aquila.co.uk/

Too old for OKIDO, then move onto this. Intelligent topic based reading for 8 – 12 year-olds, covering fascinating science and challenging projects. Make DNA strands in a jam jar. Yes, please!

NOTES

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Learning by doing is the cornerstone of the Tech Will Save Us ethos, being heavily influenced by Constructionism. This is the theory that knowledge is not simply transmitted, but actively constructed in the mind of the learner. Constructionism suggests that learners are more likely to devise creative solutions while actively engaged in making physical objects.

We view technology as building material. With a basic understanding of electronics and a micro controller, you can open up a whole world of excitement. Want to make a bespoke flashing rainbow lightbox for your bedroom? No problem with a BBC micro:bit...

Allowing some confusion and head scratching is important. Building a den from scratch and trying to stop the blanket roof falling in is hard, and at times, frustrating, but this kind of creative problem solving is much more fun and satisfying than sitting in a shop bought pre-made playhouse. Hard is fun.

The most powerful research tool is often in your pocket. If your Humanoid wants to make something, or needs inspiration, going online can unleash a pantheon of ideas or how-to guides. Want to make a solar oven, google it. Learning to learn is so important.

AFTERWORD

Lots of things take time, some things will take several sessions to complete, some projects may take months. The Humanoid must learn to understand that although they are masters of their own time, they can not add more hours to the day. If you want something to happen, you have to take the proper time for the job.

Remember, you can’t get it right without getting it wrong. Get a penknife and a green stick and try whittling a wooden butter knife yourself. Your first one will probably go horribly wrong, but the second one will be significantly better. Persistent whittlers will make massive improvements in their technical ability.

A laptop is a tool too, and it can not only as a research tool, but a programming tool to add intelligence and response to the things you make. We are living in a digital world that makes making even more exciting than ever before.

Do unto ourselves as we would do unto our Humanoids. You want your Humanoid to think big ideas and express themselves creatively, then show them how. Take risks, learn new skills, sleep in a den, build a workspace and use it. You might have some fun.

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