Machinekin
Machinekin is an umbrella term used to describe all kin identities that relate to robots and machines. This itself falls under the wider spectrum of artificial identities.
Description
Machinekin describes many kin identities under the umbrella, which include but is not limited to:
- Robotkin
- Androidkin
- AIkin
- Cybertroniankin
- Fictionkin
- Dronekin
Controversy
The 'Soul' Argument
The Soul Argument states that any nonhuman identity that cannot possess a soul does not count as a legitimate identity. This argument is disputed by believers of animism. Animism (an·i·mism /ˈanəˌmizəm/) is the attribution of souls to plants, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena. Many machinekin may feel shunned or otherwise alienated from the greater otherkin community over this discourse.
People worldwide carry animist ideals—some even extending souls to things like machines and rocks. This argument excludes ideas deemed "ridiculous", based on ethnocentric ideas from the Western part of the world of what might or might not have souls.