Addicted to YA discussion

Has anyone ever heard the phrase "what is the measure of a human?"

Generally this addresses our perception and values of what we regard as human characteristics and whether something that was never human (i.e. an android) could be considered one.

I don't see many books that feature a synthetic being as a protagonist and was wondering if it's too alienating a concept for readers to relate to. We're supposed to sympathize with characters in stories so would one that acts like a person but isn't be a source of fascination or difficult to empathize with?

I would be intrigued by the premise. I always get such heartache watching characters strive for something we all take for granted. I think that's why AI makes me uncomfortable because I wouldn't want anyone to be created only to be exploited and never given autonomy.

& were kind of strange to me.

I guess it depends. One of my favorite romance books is Tanith Lee's The Silver Metal Lover, which is a coming of age book about a young woman who falls in love with an android.

It's really an amazing book about being human, which considering the premise, might be a bit of a surprise. But I have never empathized so deeply with a couple of characters in my life as I did with this book.

Normally, I am not a sci-fi fan, and overwhelming prefer human protagonists. But I suppose what I am saying is that if it's done right, it can be incredible. The Silver Metal Lover

I'm always fascinated by what the measure of humanity entails. It makes me think about what defines us and what we take for granted.

Exactly. That's what the book I mentioned delved into. It really resonated with me for that reason.

In books like Cinder and I am Number Four I found them pretty easy to relate to, 'cuz they still have normal human personality traits.

No. I have no problem with inhuman protagonists. I read a lot of animal books when I was younger, and so it is easy for me to forget if the characters are human or not. Anthropomorphism was a common thing in the stuff I read, so now I have no issue with it. :)

I couldn't get into Warriors for this reason, but I actually really enjoyed The Dragonet Prophecy. I absolutely loved Cinder. Animal books are harder for me (With the Dragonet Prophecy, I felt weird at first, but I got used to it eventually), but cyborgs and stuff I find interesting.