I recently read I, Robot, a assortment of short stories written by Isaac Asimov in 1950's. The movie that came out some years ago with the same title was loosely based mostly upon some of the themes from the stories, but failed to follow any specific plot within the stories. Whereas I did fancy the movie, it failed, in my opinion, to capture the depth of the initial writing and themes Asimov was trying to communicate. Asimov's body of work is considered a pillar of science fiction, and his Robot Series is some of his best work. If you haven't scan it, I highly recommend that you simply do. And if you don't need me to spoil it for you, stop reading now.
I, Robot tells the story of the creation of a robotic race, for lack of a higher term, created initially as a work force for people, and the issues that arise as this race integrates into humanity. For safety, each robot is programmed with 3 basic laws,
A robot could not injure an individual's being or, through inaction, permit an individual's being to return to harm.
A robot must obey any orders given to it by citizenry, except where such orders would conflict with the 1st Law.
A robot should shield its own existence as long as such protection will not conflict with the First or Second Law
The plot of the stories explore how numerous robots, as they become a lot of advanced, interpret these Laws, and how those interpretations affect the world. As the stories close to the end, a few humans realize robots have assumed a lot of and additional control over the world, politically and economically. Everything has become more efficient. Higher rules. Less poverty. The globe is truly a better place, as a result of robots have become way more advanced, and are less corrupt than humans. In one in all the last scenes, it is revealed that the robots have done this on purpose, for the sole purpose of fulfilling the First Law. They need taken control as a result of they know humans are better off in their hands than our own. However, they are going to great lengths to hide the fact that they need taken management, as a result of our awareness of our loss of control would injure us emotionally, and that might be a violation of the First Law. In essence, humans may never know they were not in control.
This is often why Asimov is a genius. He understood one thing profound regarding humanity. It looks we tend to would rather run our own lives, even if we know its not the best life possible.
If you're a parent, you have most likely used the phrase "This can be for your own smart". This phrase is generally followed by the parent making the kid do one thing they do not wish to try and do, like eating vegetables. The kid in all probability understands that the parent is true, whether or not they don't perceive why. But they will fight so long as they can. Why? Because they are being created to try and do it. They're fighting for management, even if keeping that control means facing otherwise avoidable pain and difficulty later.
In many ways in which, we never grow up. I still notice this theme in my very own life. I grasp for management and fight to perceive things that are usually fully beyond me. I recognize I do not have the knowledge or information to decision the shots in my own life, but keep doing it anyway. I grasp what it means that to trust and see when doing so would benefit my life, but still realize it hard to bring myself to try to to it. I are abundant a lot of willing to try and do one thing when it's my idea.
This is what created Asimov great. In these stories, he chose to use robots to look at the human condition. He wove creativity and insight into extraordinarily fascinating, entertaining stories that challenged us to think.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.natureezine.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
