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In the Westworld TV series, androids use phrase "It doesn't look like anything to me" relative to something they are forbidden to realize and understand - e.g. an item which may lead them to the conclusion that they are artificially made.

As a non-native English speaker, I'm unsure I understand the exact meaning of this phrase. My best guess would be "it's some nonsense not worthy of attention", but due to Westworld popularity I can't google any other usage examples. Can somebody please clarify this?

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    The closest meaning would be, "I don't recognize what that is and therefore it doesn't look like anything I understand." One might say the same thing when trying to derive meaning from a work of abstract art.
    – the_darkside
    Jan 15, 2017 at 14:09
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    Something similiar to Douglas Adams´ "Someone else´s problem field". Jan 15, 2017 at 14:27
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    "Danger, Will Robinson! It does not compute".
    – Hot Licks
    Jan 15, 2017 at 14:50

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Your interpretation of the phrase is very good, but a bit strong! If someone told me that something doesn't look like anything to them, I'd just say, really? Let's go and get acquainted with what you're not familiar with...

The phrase to me just means: This is something I cannot recognize... something I've never seen or encountered before, and therefore, I cannot tell you anything about it! It is not, according to me, NONSENSE, just new and not registered yet, not computed yet...

Alain :)

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The phrase means that the hosts (robots in westworld) are encountering something which make them question there own being. so the programmers (dr. Ford, Bernard) took precautions to give this nonsense response to this line on questions. Like the photo of williams wife to be. Only in case of a "malfunction" the host gets confused like dolores dad, Peter Abernathy.

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“It doesn’t look like anything to me” carries an air of disinterest. The response is brief and direct. It slams the door to further discussion. Therefore, the response is more or less a default response that confirms the host has not been intellectually compromised.

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