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My favorite author of all time is Isaac Asimov. His books about robotic integration into human society to the point that one becomes a detective was a lot of fun to read He also wrote about galactic empire, a foundation to save humanity from the barbarism following the fall of an empire, life on a planet without darkness, the moment a robot desires to be more human, parallel universes, time travel paradoxes, miniaturization, life on Mars, Detective Stories (both science fiction, and not), and a variety of short stories and personal tales.
Asimov came to America as a stow-away in his parent's luggage, and fell in love with his adopted country as he grew up. His tales are timeless, and his love of America is appreciated.
My first book I read by him when I was a kid was about Benjamin Franklin, "The Kite that Won the Revolution." That book, along with Schoolhouse Rock, is what led me to become a student of the United States Constitution.
Tonight, I watched the movie "I, Robot," with Will Smith. The movie is loosely based on Asimov's robot novels, though the story is not one I remember ever reading. I suppose you could say it has certain elements that are in the book "Caves of Steel," but aside from that, the similarities are names of characters, certain situations, and the three laws of robotics. Nonetheless, it is among my favorite movies, ranking right up there in the neighborhood of another film based on Asimov's genius, "Bicentennial Man."
In the film, I, Robot, VIKI, an artificial intelligence comes to a determination about humanity that is roughly in the same neighborhood as what Skynet determines in "Terminator", provides an interesting quote during the film. . . one that, as a political pundit, had me thinking of the Democrats. Remember, VIKI is the villian in I, Robot.
- You charge us with your safekeeping, yet despite our best efforts, your countries wage wars, you toxify your Earth and pursue ever more imaginative means of self-destruction. You cannot be trusted with your own survival. To protect Humanity, some humans must be sacrificed. To ensure your freedom, some freedoms must be surrendered. We robots will ensure mankind's continued existence. You are so like children. We must save you from yourselves.
Chilling, to say the least.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
2 comments:
By AD 2100 Asimov-type mechano-gasters will not be "robots" at all, but hyperlinked, post-organic Symbionts, effectively omniscient and immortal, spreading outward from re-glaciating Planet Earth to giant exo-solar refugia telesponding by quantum correlation/correspondence to the stars.
Asked "Who goes there, whence and on what mission?" a chaotic/fractal, holographic, random/recursive, self-emergent entity replies, "Those who have to ask will never know."
Kind of like the original "The Day The Earth Stood Still" where Klatu informs the inhabitants of earth that the "other planets" voluntarily surrendered their freedom to self determination to a robotic police force.
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