Badvice is a clinical term used by both personality trainers and emoticon advisors. It refers to a human’s feeling that his or her doctor’s prescription is poorly conceived and need not be executed. It was first coined by Dr. Jonas Voight-Schnapp in his seminal study, “Humans Are Not As Schmart As They Think They Are, Therefore Humans Are Schtupid,” published in 2468 in the Journal of Ontological Bioscience.

Dr. Voight-Schnapp based the term (and most of the study) on Patient V, who had an overwhelming fear of heights. The doctor’s prescription was that the patient “base-jump off a high bridge as soon as possible.”

However, Patient V refused this prescription and instead opted to take a vacation in New Zealand. Unfortunately, the tropospheric shuttle that was transporting Patient V encountered a low-level radiation storm and broke up over the Indian Ocean.

“If only Patient V had not sheen my preshcription as badvice,” surmised Dr. Voight-Schnapp, “he or she might have had a long und rich exshistence.”

In the Great Famine of late 22nd Century (Gregorian calendar), traditional food sources became extremely scarce. During these desperate times, many starving humans were forced to sustain themselves on low calorie diets of domesticated animals. This led to the near-extinction of most dogs, cats and small rodents (though the Chihuahua breed of dog did became extinct for unrelated reasons).

In 2251 (Robot calendar), the Council for a New Tomorrow passed legislation that enabled the manufacture of replacements for these pets, called pet-bots. While not living animals, pet-bots are programmed to emulate the creatures upon which they are modeled. In order to have the appearance of an animal sentience, a random personality processor is built into most pet-bots.

Due to the popularity of pet-bots, it is not known if or when actual canines or felines will ever be re-introduced into conventional life.