It's a reference to an internet-famous Tumblr post [1], but people do name their roombas and treat them like pets.

Again, I don't think it's a bad thing - it's a side point, but our ability to make mental/emotional leaps is something I would not trade away, and I believe it enables a lot of innovation and art.

But it's something we should watch out for, because that same tendency can make us trick ourselves; I think Conan Doyle is a really strong example of how this can go wrong [2]. "I want to believe" is a good stance that encourages exploration, as long as you're still looking for the evidence.

[1] https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cb/4d/e7/cb4de76cfe401f8006e0...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Conan_Doyle

I named my Roomba Muffins after it "chewed up" the magazines in the bathroom.

When you consider that highly trained combat soldiers run into enemy fire to rescue military robots because some emotionally influenced part of their cerebellum thinks the robot is Johnny Five, honestly people petting their Roombas surprises me not a bit.