Argument Moose
Meta Alignment
My mother has an electronic moose holiday decoration, it is designed to sit on the edge of a shelf or a mantle. It is sound activated and plays Christmas songs and waves its arms. So to start a song you can tap on the shelf or clap your hands or... have a conversation that starts to get loud, perhaps louder and more intense than you meant it to be.
The Moose doesn’t understand the conversation, maybe loudness and intensity are appropriate. Maybe you’re just having a fun conversation close to the mantle or watching It’s a Wonderful Life. But often the sudden introduction of cheaply synthesized jingle bells gives everyone a chance to step back and reframe. Even when emotions are running high, they dissolve under the sheer absurdity of being called out by a stuffed moose chiming Christmas carols.
The Argument Moose doesn’t understand, it isn’t perfect, but on more than one occasion it has been the robot that saved the holiday, and for that particular task I am deeply grateful.
If intense holiday conversations are a point of concern for you, (or if you are prone to being louder even than you intend,) consider finding a suitably calibrated moose, or whatever.
This is an Automatic Transmission.