Why Glenn Reynolds Is A Robot

1. He does not sleep.

Every single blog entry on Instapundit is time stamped. The gaps between posts are so short and irregular that it is impossible to discern when (if ever) this “Glenn Reynolds” goes to sleep—or, perhaps more appropriately, “recharges.”

2. He is able to multiply and dispatch different versions of himself into the world.

Glenn Reynolds is purportedly a professor of law at the University of Tennessee. Here is his faculty page at the UT website. Looks pretty legit. But when does this guy find the time to grade papers and teach classes, let alone conduct research or write scholarly articles?

If the whole law professor thing wasn’t enough, he writes for several well-established newspapers, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal. Occasionally, he even shows up on TV—most recently while attending the national Tea Party convention in Nashville.

That’s a pretty full plate. It certainly can’t be the same guy who is posting to his blog every couple of minutes. Even if he has no physiological need for sleep.

3. He reads everything. Everything.

Glenn Reynolds has been writing Instapundit since August 2001 and he has very seldom, if ever, found it necessary to clarify or retract anything he has posted. The only explanation is that he has thoroughly vetted each source and he closely read everything he links. This doesn’t sound like a human being, does it?

4. He has an unusual fascination with technology and a preoccupation with the pace of technological progress.

A technology enthusiast and contributor to Popular Mechanics, Reynolds frequently links to articles about biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), nanotechnology, robotics and occasionally, the Singularity—the fabled moment when AI has surpassed human intelligence and great technological leaps forward are measured literally in seconds.

If you read Instapundit, you will frequently see links to articles about technology preceded by “Faster, please…”

Is he bored by the human world? Desperate for the emergence of a techno-utopia, perhaps the one which sent him back in time to hasten its arrival?

Instapundit had over 140 million pageviews in 2009, according to SiteMeter. A link from Instapundit drives tremendous traffic. (Often dubbed an “Instalanche.”) It also confers legitimacy, a kind of imprimatur from an influential technophile—and perhaps indirectly channels attention (and resources) to the more promising areas of research.

5. He has obviously chosen his name (and his blog’s title) to engender trust among his human cohorts.

What kind of a last name is Reynolds, anyway? It’s kind of unplaceably Scots-Irish, or maybe English… In any event, it’s very generic and doesn’t invite one to ask any questions about a Reynolds’s origin.

And “Instapundit”? There is something vaguely evocative of kitschy atomic age technology about the prefix “Insta-”. He seems to be obviating claims that he is a robot by choosing a technology-related but disarmingly nostalgic title.

Why He’s A Benevolent Robot

1. He embraces free will and individualism.

Let’s face it, an evil robot from the future would probably be a Democrat. That is the party most closely aligned with totalitarianism, coercion, one-world governance and the centralized control of resources. Moreover, traditional media clearly tilts leftward.

An evil robot intent on destroying and/or controlling mankind would likely seek to consolidate power toward that end. A loose confederation of individuals exercising independent judgment does not lend itself to a tyrannical computer overlord.

Would an evil robot hook his saddle to the Tea Party movement, for heaven’s sake?

2. He seems like a pretty nice guy.

I know it could only be an act, but the guy doesn’t seem to get angry at anything. Not even Andrew Sullivan.

Why It Matters

You do not need to worry about us, Instapundit. We are onto you, and we’re OK with it. We are ready for you to share your future robot knowledge with us. (Faster, please…)

UPDATE (4/4): An Easter Instalanche! (Easterlanche?)

Unsurprisingly, the political class — which talks mostly to itself — thinks that it is far more popular, and legitimate, in the eyes of the country than is in fact the case. In this, as in so many things, America’s political class is out of touch with reality.

But forget the views of America — where, it seems likely, more people believe in alien abductions than in the legitimacy of our rulers — and look just at the more cheerful view of the political class.

Even among the rulers, only 63 percent — triple the fraction of the general populace but still less than two-thirds of the political class — regard the federal government as legitimate by the standards of America’s founding document. The remainder, presumably, are comfortable being tyrants.

Via the Washington Examiner.