BEIRUT — A few weeks ago Al-Arabiyya television aired a short story about plans in Qatar to replace young camel jockeys with Swiss-made robots, starting next racing season. This switch would have several advantages, according to the report. It ends any problems with the inhumane exploitation of children and adolescents, given that many jockeys, chosen for their light weight, are less than 18 years of age. It also makes for faster camels, since the robotic jockeys would weigh less than 25 kilograms. A third advantage is that it would allow trainers to better manipulate the camels during the race, for they could send electronic signals to the robotic jockeys, who in turn pass them on to the camels.
What a clever idea, I thought. Here is a case of Arabs being high-tech, humane, efficient and cost-effective, all at the same time. Here was a dramatic example of Arabs embracing modernity, while simultaneously preserving our own traditions and values. I’ve only been to a few camel races in my life, but I place this high on my list of significant indigenous cultural traditions worth preserving. Not only is the spectacle of the race itself inherently thrilling — ask anyone who goes to a horse, greyhound, or automobile race anywhere in the world — but the particular drama of a half dozen camels in full flight is a very special spectacle to behold.
In my little book of wonderful and memorable things I have witnessed in life, racing camels rank right up there in the top ten with such other thrills as walking in Arab east Jerusalem at dawn, strolling along Beirut’s seaside Corniche at dusk, watching the Yankees defeat the Red Sox in baseball at Yankee Stadium on a warm August evening, crossing the Bosporus bridge into the European side of Istanbul on a full moon-lit evening, enjoying a meal of snails and frogs’ legs in a Paris bistro with friends in autumn, walking through the streets of any Indian city at any time of year, and other such thrills.
There is an ungainly beauty, a sort of reckless biological abandon and a collective violation of the laws of physics, to a pack of racing camels. The most impressive dimension of the racing camel is the contrast between the enormous physical exertion required to propel the large animal forward at a brisk speed, and the serenity that defines the face of the beast. I am not a connoisseur of camels, but a lifelong admirer nevertheless. Their serenity in the face of any situation, the steady munching of a large mouth that operates according to the same laws as cement mixers, the expressionless, contented face that must have inspired Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, is something I marvel at and respect.
These and other captivating aspects of the camel all come together and collectively reach their apex in the racing camel in action. So I am delighted and impressed to learn that the visual and temperamental thrill of camel races will be preserved and developed in Qatar. I will eagerly attend a camel race the next time I am in Qatar and will try to visit the Swiss company developing the robotic camel jockeys, to learn of their pioneering work, and perhaps also to learn more about the captivating psychology and biology of camels.
The novel idea of robots replacing live Arabs got me pondering the wider question of how to use digitized robots to resolve other challenges or dilemmas in the contemporary Arab world. If robotic camel jockeys work out well, would there be room to consider robots as more efficient, humane, and cost-effective replacements for other professions in our region that strives for modernity in so many ways? Some possibilities might be worth pondering.
Robots could certainly replace national leaders in some Arab countries, given the predictable, mechanical, repetitive manner in which most of our leaders behave. Robots mimic leaders in their common durability, able to keep operating for decades at a time without much maintenance or updating of their operating systems. Also, some Arab leaders are deeply influenced, perhaps even manipulated, from abroad, or from foreign embassies in their country. The technology used for robotic camel jockeys would work well in this case, as some foreign ambassadors, security chiefs, religious figures, corporate heads, or other national leaders could remotely control robotic Arab leaders, probably more efficiently than they do now. The money that is saved through digital manipulation of robotic Arab leaders from abroad could be used for a fund to promote electoral democracy in Arab lands, which brings me to my second idea.
We might explore having robots replace entire categories of voters in some Arab elections. I know this is slightly outlandish and controversial, but please hear me out. In about 85, maybe 87, percent of cases, the votes of Arab voters are well known ahead of time. In some cases, like Egypt, such predictability carries over into the next life, as dead people sometimes cast votes. Have no fear, though, the Swiss are smart enough to figure out how to develop digitized electoral transcendentalism. In other cases, like Saudi Arabia, half the population (women) does not vote. In places like Jordan and Lebanon, most people vote for their fellow tribal, ethnic or religious candidates, so their votes are very predictable.
So we can pretty accurately program robotic Arab voters before the fact and get the same results we do now with real people going to the polls. In some countries like Tunisia, this will generate an enormous cost saving, as robotic voters can be programmed to vote for the same leader in the next 4 elections, spanning the coming 20 years. The handlers of the robots can also give the winners a slightly smaller margin of victory every time — say 92 percent instead of 94 percent — to show the impact of democratic reforms and our collective march towards liberty.
These are just some preliminary thoughts that I hope will spur others to consider this idea more thoroughly. In the meantime, I will check out the robotic camel jockeys and report back in a future column.
Rami G. Khouri is editor-at-large of the Beirut-based Daily Star newspaper, published throughout the Middle East with the International Herald Tribune.
Copyright ©2005 Rami G. Khouri
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Released: 29 August 2005
Word Count: 1,021
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