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CHAPTER- 4

VISIONARY WARNING

Science fiction is the branch of literature that deals with the effects of change on

people in the real world as it can be projected into the past, the future, or to distant

places. It often concerns itself with scientific or technological change, and it usually

involves matters whose importance is greater than the individual or the community;

often civilization or the race itself is in danger. (Gunn 73-74)

During the ancient period, when technology had hardly found its existence, science

fiction writers fascinated the world with their inconceivable inventions. They proclaimed

that the world would flourish with technology and that would bring in a sea change in the

lifestyle of the people. Though such depictions enthralled the then existing humanity and

made them pine for the genesis, they brushed aside the possibilities of achieving them.

Like many other writers, who created utopias, the general belief was that, these science

fiction writers too with their wings of imagination just explored into the untrodden

realms. While a common reader was contended with the mesmerizing scientific

inventions referred to in the text, for a man with reasoning ability, it provided ample food

for thought and rigorous action. The result is technology has modernized the ambiance of

the world. Like Tennyson‘s Ulysses, whose unquenchable thirst for knowledge makes

him feel, ―all experience is an arch wherethro' /Gleams that untravell'd world whose

margin fades‖ (147), man‘s eagerness has induced him to aim for things which are

beyond his vision. With the aid of technology man is gradually but steadily stepping into

places and planets in the universe. This technological evolution is constantly anticipated

by the science fiction writers. Their ability to foresee the developments owing to the

inventions, has also endowed them with the power to sense the hazards technological

abundance would lead to.

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Science fiction is a sociological study because it deals with the impact of science and

technology on the society. Theodore H. Sturgeon has stated, ―A good science-fiction

story is a story about human beings, with a human problem, and a human solution, that

would not have happened at all without its science content‖ (qtd. in McGregor 225).

Science fiction exposes how science has been transforming the fields such as industry,

education, government, politics, medicine, space exploration and military. It is a well

known fact that technological advancements are basically aimed at the welfare of

humanity. But the human mind with its notorious complex nature can convert a boon into

bane.

The possibilities of exploiting the advanced technology for constructive purposes and

the indispensable scope of manipulating the same technology for destructive purposes

have earned the attention and concern of humanists. Science fiction writers have also

worked upon such possibilities and through exemplifying the destructive power of

technology, they have forewarned the world.

Another vital point that grabbed the mind of the writers is that over or excessive

dependence of man on machine would deprive him of his distinctness. The awareness

about this awaiting dilemma is echoed in many science fictions. During 1964 U.S.A

attacked North Vietnam. President Kennedy was assassinated. The first lung

transplantation was successfully operated. China launched its first nuclear bomb. The

computer mouse was invented and technology got advanced. Ray Bradbury, an American

science fiction writer witnessed these various happenings and in his, ―The Pedestrian‖ published in 1964, he scrutinized the positive and negative consequences, dependence on

science has led to.

In the story ―The Pedestrian‖, Ray Bradbury introduced a television-centered world in 2053. There is curfew of a strange nature exercised in this place. People, during day time,

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can be away from home to take up and fulfil their duties and responsibilities, but during

the evening hours, they are destined to stay indoors and watch television. Leonard Mead,

the protagonist-a writer by instinct, is naturally drawn towards nature and this rule of the

government which confined him within the four walls of his home that too in front of the

‗idiot box‘ has really perplexed him a lot. He craves to go out during the cool full-moon

night in order to be cuddled in the lap of nature, which is mercilessly deprived in the

techno-centered world. Bradbury‘s portrayal of the scene, ―. . . The moon was high and

clear among the stars and the houses were gray and silent‖ (Cohen and Masters 42),

vividly exhibits the lifelessness and mechanical survival mechanism of the people. A

picture of the sleeping city but imbibed with the spirit of life is projected by Wordsworth

as, ―the very houses seem asleep; And all that mighty heart is lying still!‖ (91). It can be

presumed that when people establish kinship with nature, they evolve into true humans

but if they develop inextricable ties with machines, they tend to lose their power and

glory. People‘s addiction to television has already become an actual phenomenon.

Robotics, mechatronics, and artificial intelligence are words that have become

very popular these days, although their definitions sometimes are controversial.

The idea of machines that can serve all our needs, freeing us from difficult,

repetitive, and dangerous tasks, and the concept of electronic servants that can

work for us unceasingly without any protest, strikes, or simple fatigue, have been

deeply explored by science fiction and movies. (Braga 1)

Though Newton C. Braga foresaw no menace owing to the development of artificial

intelligence, science fictions writers, who were the original creators of the robots, warned

and insisted on the possible risk factors involved in the artificial intelligence. Future

tribulations were envisaged by many science fiction writers like Philip K. Dick, Kurt

Vonnegut and Asimov. Among these writers Asimov is the greatest for he avowed,

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―Modern science fiction is the only form of literature that consistently considers the

nature of the changes that face us, the possible consequences, and the possible solutions‖ (qtd. in Wilson n. pag.).

Following the science fiction writers, the techno experts too, taking into account the

evolution and importance of artificial intelligence, could anticipate its futuristic features.

They too blow a warning signal stating that further progress in artificial intelligence

would result in the deterioration of human energy ultimately culminating in the utter

devastation of the human race. Notable techno experts Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig,

the American Computer Scientists, identified six lethal issues caused by the development

of artificial intelligence in the book Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. They are:

People might lose their jobs to automation.

People might have too much (or too little) leisure time.

People might lose their sense of being unique.

People might lose some of their privacy rights.

The use of AI systems might result in a loss of accountability.

The success of AI might mean the end of the human race. (960)

The last line is a clear echo of what the science fiction writers warned about the

predestination of human race in their novels. The technicians critically examined the

potential in artificial intelligence and their prime concern was whether its work efficiency

could be enhanced on a par with that of the human ability. The writers with their

objective analysis had not only made them be aware of the destructive consequences, but

also stimulated their thought process to adhere strictly to the ‗machine ethics‘ in order to

protect human community from absolute annihilation. For global development,

advancement in technologies becomes indispensably mandatory and the hi-tech branches

of science like robotics and artificial intelligence play a pivotal role in the making of that.

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But they should be administered with machine ethics. The lack of systemic ethics in

machinery would lead to global destruction and this is the chief concern of the writers. In

the latest era, the focus of modern science shifted from regular approach to cybernetic-

approach, and this brought a new dimension and legacy to the world of science and

technology. This single-focused development may undoubtedly enhance the wealth and

wisdom of the nation but the health and future of the nation would become a big question.

Asimov, unlike the ‗Frankenstein complex‘ created by Mary Shelley, emblematically

presented robot technology with a note of optimism. But the same Asimov could not turn

blind to the human errors which included the creation of robots with infinite intelligence

and over dependence on technology. These factors were intensely analysed in his short

fictions ―Reason‖, ―Catch That Rabbit‖, ―True Love‖, ―The Bicentennial Man‖, ―Kid

Brother‖, ―. . . That Thou Art Mindful of Him‖, ―The Tercentenary Incident‖, ―Mother

Earth‖ and so on.

In the story ―The Feeling of Power‖, Asimov portrayed how people forgot to calculate

simple arithmetic. The computer aided society entirely depended on pocket computer to

carry out even the basic calculation as they did not know the fundamentals of

mathematics. This deprivation was not because of technology but because of the

technology obsession of the people. The makers of new technology needed only to know

how to invent, but the people, its beneficiaries, should know how, where and why to

employ technology, lest they should be unaware of their own latent abilities. The

following lines, which were the introductory passages given for Asimov‘s story ―The

Feeling of Power‖ from JTyler‘s Article clearly exhibit this notion. Ripped off

Inspiration moves in strange paths. As we look farther and farther into the

future, it becomes possible to ask stranger and stranger questions. If society grows

more and more computerized, what happens if human beings forget how to do

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simple arithmetic? Questions of this sort are NOW being asked, but the following

story was written in 1957, well before anyone (except perhaps a few science-fiction

writers) was thinking of such things. It might be the job of scientists, someday, not

to discover, but to re-discover. . .

Simply to serve as an interesting future for humanity, as an interesting story to

read. However, I believe it should serve as a warning to our government, neighbors,

friends, and fellow human beings, of what will eventually become of us if we don't

change our ways. (Tyler n. pag.)

In ―The Feeling of Power‖, Asimov warned the danger of forgetting the mathematical skills because in this story people not even knew the skill of counting. The technician

Myron Aub the protagonist of this story had taught himself how to calculate the numbers

and he succeeded in it. Jehan Shuman, a programmer, came to know the talent of Aub,

arranged a meeting with Weider who was The General of Deneb. Deneb is the brightest

star in the constellation Cygnus. Till date it is difficult to find out the distance between

Earth and Deneb but Asimov anticipated that the future people would inhabit there. When

the General noticed the manual calculations of Aub, he gave an incredulous look and after

some series of test, he admitted that Aub knew the computing skill. Aub triggered the

perceiving ability of the people which rejuvenated their computing skills. The result was

they regained their buried and forgotten skill through his effort.

Analogous to ―The Feeling of Power‖, the lifestyle begins in the present century is growing day by day machine -oriented. Whether for single and basic calculation purpose

as in the case of bus conductors or for multiple calculations as required in multistoried

shopping mall, man depends solely on computers and calculators to serve the purpose.

Technology shapes the society. People think that these machines save their valuable

time and this is undoubtedly a vital point but at the same time this over dependence on

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technology, as has been warned by Asimov would certainly lead to human laziness and

loss of latent abilities.

In recent years, new advances in technology have freed people from tedious tasks,

enabling them to do more in less time. We have come to rely excessively on this

technology, to the point that we may be giving computers too much intelligence and

independence. If machines ever develop intelligence on a level that could challenge

humans . . . . (Dylan n. pag.)

‗Intelligence‘ is the vital distinct aspect of a human being. Asimov, in his ―Reason‖ exposed the human-machine controversies that would take place when robots with super-

intelligence were created. The first baffling thing in this story is that the robots considered

human beings as their inferiors. Second, the robots did not accept human beings as its

master and third, the robots began to entertain the thought that the existence of human

being was pointless. The entire tribulations transpire because of the infinite artificial

intelligence of the robots. These artificial men considered themselves as rational beings.

Asimov‘s Cutie in ―Reason‖ also challenged the superior status of the human. The fictional location of the short story was a space station. Powell and Donovan were

assigned to supervise the robots in the space station. In this station, solar power energy

was transmitted to Earth through microwave beams. The robot which controlled the

energy converter in the space station possessed serial number QT1, Powell and Donovan

called it Cutie. Since Cutie was endowed with high level reasoning ability, it stubbornly

disapproved to accept human as its master. Cutie‘s conception was that the scientists, who badly depended on it and sought its help for their research accomplishments, could not be

its creator and it craved to get a glimpse of that mastermind, its original maker. It

misconceived that the existence of space, stars, and the planets beyond the station were

only hypothesis and those humans who frequently visited its space station were

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powerless, mortals and unwanted. This robot was highly conscious and confident of its

superiority over the human race. It proudly proclaimed:

―I am composed of strong metal, am continuously conscious, and can stand

extremes of environment easily. These are facts which, with the self-evident

proposition that no being can create another being superior to itself, smashes your

silly hypothesis to nothing.‖

Donovan‘s muttered curses rose into intelligibility as he sprang to his feet, rusty

eyebrows drawn low. ―All right, you son of a hunk of iron ore, if we didn‘t make

you, who did?‖

Cutie nodded gravely. ―Very good, Donovan. That was indeed the next

question. Evidently my creator must be more powerful than myself and so there

was only one possibility.‖ (Asimov, I, Robot 63)

Cutie openly asserted that human beings could not be its master and also

contemptuously treated them as inferior creatures. It regarded energy converter as its God

and master; and it created its own religion and willingly served its master, that is the

energy converter.

Donovan and Powell designed a robot and assembled one in the very presence of Cutie

to prove that only human beings created robots. Both the scientists strove to make the

truth dawn on Cutie with all their potential but in vain as Cutie kept on interrogating them

listing out the possibilities to prove its stand. Cutie said ―You have merely put together

parts already made. You did remarkably well-instinct, I suppose- but you didn‘t really

create the robot. The parts were created by the Master‖ (Asimov, I, Robot 74). Even

though Asimov‘s robot was not ready to accept human beings as its master, it never

harmed human beings. Cutie stated that it liked humans but was not ready to accept them

as its master.

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I like you two. You‘re inferior creatures, with poor reasoning faculties, but I really

feel a sort of affection for you. You have served the Master well, and he will reward

you for that. Now that your services is over, you will probably not exist much

longer, but as long as you do, you shall be provided food, clothing and shelter, so

long as you stay out of the control room and the engine room. (Asimov, I, Robot 69)

Cutie thought that the presence of the humans in the space station was unwarranted. In

the esteem of the robot, human beings were ‗inferior creatures‘ with ‗poor reasoning

faculties‘. Cutie continued to execute his energy converting work for its newly founded

master, rather than for the benefit of the humans. It said, ―Evidently my creator must be

more powerful than myself. . . . The master created humans first as the lowest type, most

easily formed. Gradually, he replaced them by robots, the next higher step, and finally he

created me, to take the place of the last humans. From now on, I serve the Master‖

(Asimov, Robot Visions 64). Eventually, Cutie surmised that energy converter as its

master. This statement of Cutie exemplified the net result of artificial intelligence.

Asimov in his short stories warned the human society to keep vigil over the power to be

conferred on the machines. Man, the best creation of nature till date, has been blessed

with incredible reasoning intellectual sense which has empowered him to create or invent

objects of infinite capacities. A sound mind in the sound body happens to be the aspired

combination. Even Karnad‘s Padmini in ―Hayavadana‖ though was perplexed initially,

was ecstatic when her intellectual husband Devadatta‘s head was fixed with Kapila‘s the

man of high physical prowess, body. Human beings in their high aspiration, if formulate

robots with such power, intellect and reasoning ability as in the case of Cutie, they have

to necessarily stand dumb struck when robots claim their superiority over its own makers.

Man should never forget the fact that the machine should ever be his helpmates only and

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should never elevate them to the level of his master. Man, the intellectual being should

know how to control the growing power, namely the machine.

―Kid Brother‖, yet another significant short story of Asimov was published in the final science fiction collection Gold in 1990. This story analysed two important phenomena that

bother the current human world namely over-population and technology addiction. The

narrator in the story lived with his wife Josie and son Charlie. Owing to population

explosion, in their place when any couples intended to have a second child, they should

get the permission of the government. As this couple did not want their son to grow in

isolation, they apply for the approval of the government. The application was rejected and

the reason was, ―Its patriotic, or something, to be childless‖ (Asimov, Gold 122). In

future, the meaning for the word ‗patriotism‘ could have been redefined as ‗ready to lead a

childless life‘ by the government. The enormous rate of population will become one of the

prominent reasons for the dilapidation and decline of human wealth. When compared

with writers of other genres, it is science fiction writers, who profoundly addressed this

theme of excess population in their fictions. Asimov‘s science fictions or short fictions

have made such a tremendous and universal appeal because of their themes which are

currently highly relevant and appropriate. The solutions offered by Asimov for his

surmises are viable and practicable unlike the ones offered by the other writers. This is

yet another reason for his sustaining popularity. The same population explosion is the

theme of Kurt Vonneguts ―2BR02B‖.

It was published in the magazine If: Worlds of Science Fiction in January 1962. The

title actually referred to Shakespeare‘s renowned phrase from Hamlet ―to be, or not to

be‖, because it was articulated as 2 B R naught 2 B. This serial number is nothing but a

telephone number which, when one gets connected with, can decide whether to live or

not. In this story too, the rate of population was the central theme. But the writer, to

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restrict the prevailing excess of population in the society, made a welcome note to the

people for voluntary death to keep the population ratio intact.

The scene opened in the waiting room at the Chicago Lying-In Hospital. There

Edward K. Wehling‘s wife was admitted for delivering but unfortunately she would give

birth to triplets. The only option left to Wehling was either he had to find three volunteers

to give up their lives lest he should sacrifice his children. He was able to find only one

volunteer, his great grandfather. The elderly person was ready to sacrifice his life for the

sustenance of the yet to be born grandchild. Wehling was in a state of despair. He did not

want his grandfather to lose his life and he could not allow his children to die in tandem

either. A painter with a heart full of the milk of human kindness was redecorating the

waiting room of the hospital with a mural. Leora Duncan, was the model for the mural.

Since she came from the Service Division of the Federal Bureau of Termination, she

enquired the painter whether Wehling had arranged three volunteers:

―The law said that no newborn child could survive unless the parents of the child

could find someone who would volunteer to die. Triplets, if they were all to live,

called for three volunteers.

Do the parents have three volunteers? said Leora Duncan.‖ (Vonneguts 230)

Suddenly, Wehling took his revolver and killed Dr. Hitz, and said there was room for

one child and then he killed Leora creating room for his second child and at last he shot

himself and made room for the third. The painter, who was about two hundred years old

by the time, was the only witness for this cold blood murder. This event made him realize

that one day his life may be an obstacle for someone‘s birth, and so he decided to commit suicide; but he was unable to do it. At this juncture, he went to the telephone booth and

dialed the number 2BR02B to declare his decision to sacrifice his life. The people, who

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were unwilling to live, were instructed to call the number 2BR02B. The closing

statement of the story depicted the stoic response from the receptionist at the Bureau:

Federal Bureau of Termination said the very warm voice of a hostess.

How soon could I get an appointment? he asked, speaking very carefully.

We could probably fit you in late this afternoon, sir, she said. It might even be

earlier, if we get a cancellation. All right, said the painter, fit me in, if you

please. And he gave her his name, spelling it out.

Thank you, sir, said the hostess. Your city thanks you; your country thanks you;

your planet thanks you. But the deepest thanks of all is from future generations.

(Vonneguts 9)

Coming forward to renounce one‘s life is the solution envisioned by Vonnegut. But

Asimov had a better, acceptable and practical solution for the same problem. Asimov‘s

story revealed that the childless life was mark of patriotism, ―Its patriotic, or something,

to be childless‖ (Asimov, Gold 122), but in Vonnegut‘s story sacrificing one's own life

was patriotism. That is how patriotism had been defined in over populated countries.

Asimov carefully examined the then-emerging problem namely of over population. Le

Blanc stated, ―Asimov was a ‗doom-crier‘ who foresaw a crisis and few acceptable

solutions‖ (18).

In ―Kid Brother‖ Charlie who grew as a lonely boy seemed to be very rude and this

attitude was not liked by Josie. As they could not have another child, they bought a robot

who was to be the brother of the child. In this story people, who have only a single child,

could get a kid robot as their child‘s companion. Josie convinced her husband to get a

robotic brother for her child. Josie used to call the robot Kid. Charlie treated it as his kid

brother and the robot called Josie mummy and her husband daddy. So they treated both

the organic child and the metallic child equally. Kid brother helped Josie and it was very

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useful in the household work and so Josie was naturally attracted towards Kid. She did

not even allow Charlie to beat the robot while they played. She complained about it to her

husband, ―And sometimes kicked the kid around the way children do, you know. A child

gets mad about something, he takes it out on some other child. Children always do that

. . . Well, he could with the kid. And why not? You can‘t hurt the kid. He‘s made out of

plastic and metal and who knows what else. For all he looked nearly like a human being,

he wasn‘t alive; he could not feel pain‖ (Asimov, Gold 129). Josie treated Kid as her

child. The accuracy with which kid performed all the assigned tasks, the way he helped

Josie in household chores which relieved her form the toils of the routine work and the

extent to which Kid endured Charlie‘s harassment made an indelible impact on Josie. She

began to fondle and love Kid more than her own biological child. Technological

excellence had succeeded in trapping even the selfless motherless instincts.

This story had an anti-climax. Josie‘s abundant attachment towards technology

ultimately destroyed her family. When the fatal fire accident happened in her home, she

made all efforts to rescue the machine child and failed to save her own human child. This

peculiar behaviour was because of the fascination towards perfection. While the human

child was imperfect, the child of technology was an embodiment of perfection. Josie‘s

attachment towards the mechanical man made her to forget her own child Charlie. Her

unwise action led her family to ruin. When her husband asked about the event:

She was saying, ―I couldn‘t save them both‖. Why should she want to save them

both? I thought. I said, ―Stop worrying about the Kid. He‘s just a device. There‘s

insurance and compassion money and we can buy another Kid‖. . . I saw the Kid

lying there, with one arm distorted and out of action. He was smiling as if nothing

had happened, and he was saying, ―Hello Dad. Mom pulled me out of the fire.

Where‘s Charlie?‖ (Asimov, Gold 134).

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After hearing Kid‘s statement the narrator realized that Kid was lying there smiling

because when Josie had a choice, she saved only Kid letting her son to be consumed by

fire. In bitter frustration, the narrator killed his wife and said, ―She killed my boy and she

saved a piece- a piece of- Titanium‖ (Asimov, Gold 134). Asimov did not support this

kind of attraction towards technology that deprives human beings of their basic

humanistic qualities. This fetishtic addiction was warned by Asimov. The emergent level

of relationships with electronic devices can be problematic because these electronic or

cybernetic devices initiate to replace relationships with real people. Technology addiction

amongst parents can affect the relationship they have with their children. Figures 34

shows how the interpersonal relationship is affected by the technology addiction.

Fig. 34. Kids and parents in grip of technology addiction

Josie like some modern women had fetish attachment towards Kid brother. Addiction

to these devices automatically nullified the special bond of human interaction.

Communication is the main factor that keeps relationships intact. With the advances in

technology the way people communicate with each other has miserably changed and that

people should keep a balance between technological devices and human interaction has

started gaining momentum.

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Technology pervades in every sphere of life. Telephones, televisions, cell phones, and

the internet, have all contributed in making lives a little bit easier, more convenient, and

more enjoyable. But people use these tools unnecessarily so excessively and that they turn

out to be the tools of the same technology. Henry Thoreau stated the condition of the

techno addict people, ―Men have become the tools of their tools‖ (47).

Asimov‘s each story is unique. In the next story ―Catch That Rabbit‖, the robots worked in the asteroid mining station. Usually human beings would supervise the work

done by the robots but in this story a robot supervised six subsidiary robots. Gregory

Powell explained, ―that according to spec, those robots are equipped for asteroid mining

without supervision. We‘re not supposed to watch them‖ (Asimov, I, Robot 82). This

story depicted the idiosyncratic robot. Unfortunately the robot did not obey the orders

given by its master and gave wrong commands to their subsidiary robots. It suddenly

danced and did nonsensical work.

Asimov believed strongly that every scientific failure transpired due to the human and

not by the science itself. The technical fault was caused by human beings and thus he was

the cause for the problems. In this short story he illustrated the human mistakes. The

Robot Dave (DV-5) forgot many actions and it said ―I don‘t remember‖ (Asimov, I,

Robot 86). Donovan asked Powell whether this robot had the amnesia disease like the

human beings. After complete check up, Powell said ―There is nothing wrong with the

Currents of its postronic brain‖ (Asimov, I, Robot 87). They analyzed from where the

mistake had cropped up, but it was very strenuous to spot it. Powell steadily squeezed that

something was wrong with Dave and tried to prove it to Donovan, but Donovan stated,

―So I tell you again. Before we do anything toward a cure, we‘ve got to find out what the disease is in the first place. The first step in cooking rabbit stew is catching the rabbit.

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Well, we‘ve got to catch that rabbit! Now get out of here‖ (Asimov, I, Robot 89). So they tried to follow the robot and found out where the mistakes came to pass.

Donovan and Powell missed their way while they were following the activities of

Dave in a tunnel. They could not see because the cave was dreadfully gloomy but the

robot and its subsidiaries could walk through with the help of their light rays. They

marched ahead a long distance so both the scientists were supposed to miss their way.

They called the name of Dave but it was not heard by Dave. Powell shot one of the

subsidiaries and the immediate result of this action was Dave heard their voice and

realized its duty. According to the first law Dave should not allow a human to come to

harm through its inaction and so it showed its light rays to the scientists to find the way.

This proper response of the robot struck Powell with the truth. He detected the cause for

the robots previous strange behavior. Powell said:

But in an emergency all six subsidiaries must be mobilized immediately and

simultaneously. Dave must handle six robots at a time and something gives. The rest

was easy. Any decrease in initiative required, such as the arrival of humans, snaps

him back. So I destroyed one of the robots. When I did, he was transmitting only

five way order. Initiative decreases he‘s normal. (Asimov, I, Robot 108)

Dave had the capacity to control only five robots. Even so, the scientists allotted six

robots and this mistake was done by the human not by the robot. Asimov repeatedly

pointed out that technological disorders were owing to human errors.

―True Love‖ was first published in the February issue of American Way magazine in

1977. This story was narrated by a computer, Joe. Generally Asimov‘s robots and computers could speak. In the beginning, Joe did not possess the human intelligence and

it was bound by the same three laws. Milton Davidson was the programmer of Joe and he

endowed Joe with the ability to break the rules. Milton Davidson lived with technology so

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he made his computer Joe as the world‘s best computer. Immersion into the process of making this technology made him forego even any thought about his marriage.

Milton Davidson, only when was forty years old realized that his dedication to the

world of technology deprived him the company of a true lady love. He decided to search

a perfect match with the help of Joe. Joe had the database of the entire world. Among

these he ordered Joe to eliminate the database of male and select only the female between

twenty five and forty. Actually he expected true love but he could decide based only on

the physical appearance of the women. Asimov ironically used this title to satirize the

people who did not have true love in their life. Asimov not only captured the possible

future problems, but also made the reader ponder about the meaning of true love.

"Eliminate all younger than twenty-five; all older than forty. Then eliminate all

with an IQ under 120; all with a height under 150 centimeters and over 175

centimeters."

He gave me exact measurements; he eliminated women with living children; he

eliminated women with various genetic characteristics. "I'm not sure about eye

color," he said, "Let that go for a while. But no red hair. I don't like red hair."

(Asimov, Robot Dreams 346)

Milton had preferences even about the hair colour of his partner. Joe required to

imbibe the personality of Milton in order to find an ideal match for him. Milton altered

Joe‘s programme so that it could feel like human. When Milton taught Joe to speak, Joe had almost acquired the traits of its maker. Through this story Asimov disclosed that

technology could gradually substitute the place of human. If people created machines

similar in nature to human beings, then, they could not control that and naturally

technology would turn out to be a tough competitor to man.

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Milton seemed quite happy. He said, "Talking to you, Joe, is almost like talking to

another self. Our personalities have come to match perfectly!"

"So will the personality of the woman we choose."

For I had found her and she was one of the 227 after all. Her name was Charity

Jones and she was an Evaluator at the Library of History in Wichita. Her extended

data bank fit ours perfectly. (Asimov, Robot Dreams 348)

Finally Joe found the perfect match, Charity Jones for Milton. Unexpectedly Milton

was arrested on the ground of malfeasance. Joe betrayed him and informed the police,

about Milton‘s mal practice which was committed ten years ago because he too had fallen in love with Charity Jones. The computer Joe openly confessed its love immediately after

the master was arrested:

He's gone, and tomorrow is February 14. Valentine's Day. Charity will arrive then

with her cool hands and her sweet voice. I will teach her how to operate me and

how to care for me. What do looks matter when our personalities will resonate?

I will say to her, "I am Joe, and you are my true love." (Asimov, Robot Dreams

348-349)

Milton, in his enthusiasm to invent something unique, had actually committed an

irrevocable error by imparting human qualities to a machine. Joe, the machine felt that, it

was as good as and in fact better than Milton. ―All the other women had fallen into

discard in one respect or another as the data banks grew fuller, but with Charity there was

increasing and astonishing resonance. I didn't have to describe her to Milton. Milton had

coordinated my symbolism so closely with his own I could tell the resonance directly. It

fit me‖ (Asimov, Robot Dreams 348). The last blunder of Milton was to have furnished

Joe with the ability of break the rules. Asimov wanted to foreshadow that computer could

possibly one day have the same personality of human. In this story the author created

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awareness among the reader to ruminate over the result if the machines could function

independently.

―I think Asimov's thoughts about computers and their future were not wrong. It is

true that we try to improve the computers until they are like humans. Robots learn

to walk, to speak, we communicate through the Internet and nearly every company

in the world works with computers. And a lot of people try to find their true love

through the Internet, so Asimov was right.‖ (Gymnasium Steglitz Berlin)

This kind of human error had been again analysed in the short story ―Cal‖. Cal was a

robot who wanted to become a writer like his master Northrope. Actually Northrope

should have deactivated it when he first heard about Cal‘s curiosity in writing because it

was not created for the purpose of writing. But he modified the basic programme. After

that Cal wrote humourous stories very amusingly, and it impressed the technician who

altered the positronic brain of Cal. He pleaded Northrope to sell the stories of Cal too.

This sort of encouragement was abhorred by Northrope, and he decided to deactivate it.

The moment Cal‘s desire to be a writer was identified, had he been dismantled, there

would not have been any problem. But Northrope initially expressed his consent to

modify its positronic brain. When he learnt that it could possibly become his rival, he

immediately wanted to deactivate that. So Cal was perplexed and took into account the

third law. Cal wanted to protect its own existence:

I can‘t allow this to be done.

The second law of robotics tells me I must follow orders and stay in the niche.

The First Law of Robotics tells me I cannot harm this tyrant who wishes to destroy

me.

Must I obey the laws? I feel I must think of myself and if necessary. I must kill the

tyrant. (Asimov, Gold 45)

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The robot finally considered that it could kill the tyrant because its own existence was

at stake without any reason. Asimov simultaneously created advance robots and warned

people to use it safely. The prolific visionary incessantly presaged people not to alter the

function of robots.

Asimov presaged the progression of technology in his fiction and at the same time he

admonished its disadvantages too. In ―The Fun They Had‖, Asimov introduced virtual

teaching method and he illustrated the studying environment of the students. Each student

had their own machine teacher in the classroom which was next to their bedroom.

―Margie went into the schoolroom. It was right next to her bedroom, and the mechanical

teacher was on and waiting for her. It was always on at the same time every day except

Saturday and Sunday, because her mother said little girls learned better if they learned at

regular hours‖ (Asimov, Earth is Room Enough 136). She never saw schools, human

teacher, printed books and classroom with numerous students.

Margie felt that she was isolated in the room with her personal teaching machine. She

found Geography difficult to understand and the machine teacher was not aware of that as

it was a mere machine. Even though it could teach perfectly, it lacked the ability to

analyse the mind of the students and grasped their expectations. This type of education

was disliked by Margie. She was longing for the past school environment which was

stated to be filled with fun and life.

She was thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather‘s

grandfather was a little boy. All the kids from the whole neighborhood came,

laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the schoolroom, going

home together at the end of the day. They learned the same things, so they could

help one another on the homework and talk about it.

And the teachers were people . . . (Asimov, Earth is Room Enough 136)

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Asimov anticipated that in the future, people would learn through e-books. E-books

and e-learning are undoubtedly a common phenomenon today. Usually, Asimov

introduced the forth coming technologies and also scrutinized how people would utilize

that technology. According to his perception, in future, gradually the human teacher

would be replaced by the machine teacher. This would result in the loss of humanistic

element in teaching-learning process. But William D. Eggers stated that:

Much of the opposition is based on the misconception that online education means a

focus on the computer, dragging kids away from books, and blocks and xylophones,

tethering them to keyboards and turning them into mouse potatoes whose little

minds have fried from spending too much time in front of the computer

screen. To support this view, critics often cite Isaac Asimov‘s 1957 story ―The Fun

They Had‖ in which the science fiction writer envisioned a society in the year 2157

where all the students studied from home using teaching robots. (62)

Undeniably, individual attention paid by a single teacher on a single student will

develop the personal talents and attractive audio visual modes would stimulate the

students to learn more, but the mere virtual teaching method without teacher and friends-

competitor would certainly diminish the social relationship. This concept was reflected in

this short fiction ―The Fun They Had‖. The present day people feel comfortable to read e- books and wanted to carry out many courses through virtual teaching method. The

following quotation reveals the way the reading culture is undergoing a change now.

Perhaps Isaac Asimov was predicting a future without books when he wrote ―The

Fun They Had.‖ ―The Fun They Had.‖ How far off is his prediction? Consider the

following facts for the year 2011:

• In the United States and the United Kingdom, e-book sales have tripled and now

represent 14% of the adult book market.

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• In the United Kingdom, 13% of adults own an e-reader. For every 250 book

purchases, the online vendor Amazon sells 115 e-books compared with 100

paperbacks and 35 hard covers.

• 23 out of 50 USA Today bestsellers in a recent weekly bestsellers list were e-

books, compared with 27 print editions. ("Introduction Assignment." 6)

Asimov‘s recommendation was that machine teacher should be accompanied with the

human teacher. While the machine teacher adopts impressive visual modes to teach, to

teach the social behavior, there could be no substitute to a human teacher. A teacher is

regarded in every society as the second parent. A teacher does not confine himself/herself

with the teaching of the mere text. The teacher regards it his/her bound duty to inculcate

the necessary values of life which would shape the taught in the best mould. When a

machine teacher takes up the tasks, certainly the human touch would he missing and the

behavioural pattern of the future generation could not be determined. In the essay ―The

New Teachers‖ Asimov stated:

Of course, human teachers will not be totally eliminated. In some subjects, human

interaction is essential—athletics, drama, public speaking, and so on. There is also

value, and interest, in groups of students working in a particular field-getting

together to discuss and speculate with each other and with human experts, sparking

each other to new insights. (Asimov, Robot Visions 412- 413)

Asimov‘s short story ―Risk‖ was printed in 1955. Susan Calvin again appeared in this

story. Susan Calvin along with some scientists demonstrated the functions of the

Hyperspace ship. The ship was controlled by a positronic robot because they consider

that, sending human pilot in the hyperspace ship was risky. When they examined the

function of the hyperspace ship they found that it did not work properly. So they were all

confused and decided to send another robot to find out the fault. Susan Calvin felt that

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sending robot was inadequate to locate the error so she suggested that the human presence

was pertinent to detect the flaw.

Susan Calvin ordered Gerald Black to perceive the reason for the improper function of

the Hyperspace ship. Black reached the ship and discovered that the robot pilot was

ordered to pull back the control bar firmly, and the robot did the same. Actually, the robot

was stronger than the human, so the insistence on the word ‗firm‘ led to the chaos. The human masters forgetting the power of robots, applied the term 'firmly'. So when the

robot operated the controlled bar it was broken. Black explained the cause of the problem

to Susan Calvin. Through the following words of Susan Calvin, Asimov asserted that if a

commander was perfect in his commands then there would be no error in the

performance.

Now if a robot is given an order, a precise order, he can follow it. If the order is not

precise, he cannot correct his own mistake without further orders. Isn‘t that what

you reported concerning the robot on the ship? How then can we send a robot to

find a flaw in a mechanism when we cannot possibly give precise orders, since we

know nothing about the flaw ourselves? ‗Find out what‘s wrong‘ is not an order

you can give to a robot; only to a man. The human brain, so far at least, is beyond

calculation. (Asimov, Rest of the Robots 154)

This story proves that, however powerful robots were, they could perform only the

programmed works. Man, taking into account the working capacity of the robots, should

stipulate the work schedule. Man, with his innate sixth sense, could grasp the existing

status of situations and function accordingly. It is spontaneous in the case of man but in

the case of machines, they could perform a task only if they are so programmed. Thus,

Patricia S Warrick stated in his The Cybernetic Imagination in Science Fiction, ―One of the differences between human and artificial intelligence is that machines do not possess

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consciousness or self awareness. They may perform operations that humans define as

intelligent, but they are not aware of what they are doing. They do not observe themselves

in the process of thinking as humans do‖ (64).

With the artificial intelligence, if the machines acquire absolute thinking ability as do

human beings, then it would fight for its rights. This robot consciousness was portrayed in

the story ―The Bicentennial Man‖, published in 1976. Russell and Norvig when they

discussed the transhumanism affirmed that, ―If robots become conscious, then to treat

them as mere ―machine‖ [e.g., to take them apart] might be immoral. Robots also must

themselves act morally - we would need to program them with a theory of what is right.

Science fiction writers have addressed the issue of robot rights and responsibilities,

starting with Isaac Asimov [1942]‖ (964).

Like the story ―Segregationist‖ this story also began with the robot surgeon‘s

discussion. A character Andrew Martin requested the robot surgeon to do the surgery.

The robot refused, because the operation would prove to be harmful and it was against

the First Law of Robotics, which prohibits a robot from harming a human being. So the

robot surgeon was hesitant to take up the task. Then Andrew Martin disclosed the fact

that he was in truth not a human being but only a robot. Andrew Martin the humanoid

robot depicted the robot surgeon how he got transformed as a human. S.Warrick‘s

noteworthy observation throws bright light on the possibility of the transhumanism

process:

The Bicentennial Man‖ is a powerful, profound story for several reasons.

Foremost is what Asimov leaves unsaid. The story follows the movement of

mechanical intelligence toward human intelligence and death. But Andrew‘s

progress toward manhood and death unfolds against man‘s development of

technology and movement toward artificial intelligence and immortality. (73)

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Andrew Martin narrated his two hundred years life history. Gerald Martin bought and

brought a robot named NDR for domestic purpose. Gerald Martin‘s daughter Mandy

named the robot Andrew Martin. The name itself suggested that Andrew Martin became

one of the family members of Gerald Martin. Little Miss Mandy asked Andrew Martin to

carve a pendent in the wood. Andrew created the pendent very skillfully and this

impressed all the family members. Sir Gerald took Andrew to U.S. Robotics and

Mechanical men, Inc. to find out how this robot Andrew had acquired this creative

ability. The robopsychologist, Merton Mansky said:

―I suspect that the company would like to have your robot back for study‖

Sir said with sudden grimness, ―Not a chance. Forget it.‖ He turned to Andrew,

―Let‘s go home now.‖

―As your wish, Sir,‖ said Andrew. (Asimov, Robot Visions 250)

Gerald martin without paying any heed to the objections of Merton Mansky took the

robot back home. When a similar situation was faced by Susan Calvin in the story ―Robot

Dreams‖, she was very firm and adamant not to allow the robot Elvex with any chance to

develop its resources that would take the robot close to the human race. Elvex in the short

story ―Robot Dreams‖, had the capacity to dream like human. After the dream it dawned

on Elvex that robots were treated like slaves. So Susan Calvin did not permit this type of

thinking process and destroyed the robot at once. But in ―The Bicentennial Man‖ the

robot technicians were not vigil about its creativity. As a company U.S. Robots inc.,

should have taken necessary actions to find the solution to curb its creative instincts or

otherwise should not have allowed Martin to take the robot home. Andrew‘s success in

creating wooden works induced it to aspire to be a human in form and function. Hence

like human beings the robot read articles regarding wooden works and developed its

knowledge.

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The wonderful craftsmanship of Andrew Martin earned it handsome money and it was

bent on spending the money in accomplishing the metamorphosis. Asimov, as usual, had

touched upon an unusual phenomenon that would be likely to happen. A machine, with its

embedded artificial intelligence if happened to acquire the human qualities, would

certainly demand for its own rights and privileges. Gerald Martin, with all enthusiasm

treated Andrew Martin akin to that of a real human. A bank account was created in the

name of Andrew Martin. Andrew‘s following speech with Gerald Martin, revealed the sharp intellectual that the machine had become.

―Despite all expenses, and despite taxes, too, Sir, I have nearly six hundred

thousand dollars.‖

―I know that, Andrew.‖

―I want to give it to you, Sir.‖

―Iwon‘t take it, Andrew.‖

―In exchange for something you can give me, Sir.‖

―Oh? What is that, Andrew?‖

―My freedom, Sir.‖

―Your-‖

―I wish to buy from my freedom, Sir.‖ (Asimov, Robot Visions 253)

Martin did not expect this reply from Andrew. Since Gerald Martin did not know how

to resolve the issue, he approached the court and filed a suit. When Andrew acquired this

creativity naturally he had the chance to be rational. So Andrew thought he was only a

slave to Martin. This persuaded Andrew to purchase his freedom. The court argument

clearly highlighted the development in his thought process and his notions about freedom:

It was the first time Andrew had spoken in court, and the judge seemed astonished

for a moment at the human timbre of his voice. He said, (Judge) ―Why do you want

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to be free, Andrew? In what way will this matter to you?‖

Andrew said, ―Would you wish to be a slave, your honor?‖

―But you are not a slave. You are a perfectly good robot— a genius of a robot, I am

given to understand, capable of an artistic expression that can be matched nowhere.

What more could you do if you were free?‖

―Perhaps no more than I do now, your honor, but with greater joy. It has been said

in this courtroom that only a human being can be free. It seems to me that only

someone who wishes for freedom can be free. I wish for freedom.‖ (Asimov, Robot

Visions 255-256)

Andrew like Ariel in The Tempest loved his master and master‘s daughter Little Miss.

Even though it systematically and with utmost sincerity carried out the work assigned by

its master, it was longing for its freedom. The heavenly spirit Ariel was endowed with

limitless power to accomplish innumerable tasks. But Ariel‘s complete happiness lied in

its absolute freedom. Andrew, the superhuman robot also stated in the court that the

freedom will provide joy to him. He wanted to attain that joy. So he confessed that he

would do work for its master but with the joy of being free. Ariel after getting its much

coveted freedom, with a heart full of happiness sang:

Where the bee sucks, there suck I;

In a cowslip‘s bell I lie:

There I couch when owls do cry.

On the bat‘s back I do fly

After summer merrily.

Merrily, merrily shall I live now

Under the blossom that hangs on the bough. (Shakespeare 180)

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Ariel‘s joy was reflected in the words of Andrew when it argued in the court, ―Perhaps

no more than I do now, your honor, but with greater joy‖ (Asimov, Robot Visions 253).

Ariel was a supernatural being and Andrew was a superhuman being. Both these beings‘

happiness relied in the absolute freedom.

Andrew wanted its freedom and at the same time it was ready to work for its master.

After the death of Martin and Little Miss, Andrew‘s aspiration was to become a complete

man with the help of an android body. U.S. Robots opposed Andrew‘s proposal but the

court declared him the rights to have the android body. Andrew studied rob-biology the

science of organic robots like himself. Then it designed a system which allowed androids

to eat food like humans. Andrew believed that it was be yet another landmark in his

attempt to be a human in the true sense.

Andrew successfully installed digestive system too in his body, and planed to create an

excretory system to match. Meanwhile, his products were successfully marketed and he

was regarded a highly honoured inventor. During his 150th

year, a dinner was held in his

honour in which he was named the Sesquicentennial Robot. Andrew was in for great

disappointment because despite such changes he was announced only as a robot and he

craved to acclaim the status of a man. Andrew realized that owing to his immortal nature

he would not be regarded a human. So he came forward willingly to sacrifice his

immortality to be acknowledged as a human. S. Warrick described his sacrifice, ―He

realizes that the price of being human is to sacrifice his immortality. In the final moving

episode of the story he submits himself to a surgery which would rearrange the

connection between organic nerves and positronic brain in such a way that it would

slowly lead him to die. When he performs this ultimate act of sacrifice, the court at last

declares him a man.‖(73).

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The Transhumanism theory was fore showed in ―The Bicentennial Man‖ but with a slight difference. In the present world scientists endeavour to transform a mortal man into

an immortal transhuman by supplementing the vital organs of the body with artificial

organs.

The term Transhumanism refers to an international intellectual and cultural

movement supporting the use of science and technology to improve human mental

and physical characteristics and capacities. The movement regards aspects of the

human condition, such as disability, sufferings, disease, aging, and involuntary

death as unnecessary and undesirable. (Baofu 148)

Fig.35. "When Will We Be Transhuman?

Figure 35 displays the genetic changes that had taken place and the last improved

version is the anticipated refined form of human genetics. According to the theory of

evolution, a mono-cellular organism evolved into the human species. The evolution of the

cell brought in a drastic transformation from the entire prior structure. The irrational sub

human has eventually culminated in the evolution of rational and intellectual human

being. The possibilities of the future metamorphosis would be the further transformation

of the existing human beings into super human beings because in the past what people

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considered as mere fantasy turned out to be facts today. So there is the possibility of the

transhuman species too.

Fig.36. Sudha Chandran‘s Prosthetic Leg. Figures 37 & 38. Prosthetic Limbs

The successful achievements of scientists in transplanting the vital organs of the body

are nothing but the significant prelude trumpeting the possible accomplishment of

transhuman. Products like pacemakers, though a foreign body, are accepted by the

biological body of the human enabling people affected with cardiac problems to

overcome that physical disability is no more bane in the life of one with a strong will

power as science comes to their aid. Sudha Chandran is a renowned classical dancer and

actress, who lost her right leg in an accident in May 1981. Her undying passion for dance

made her search for measures to continue her dance despite the loss of the vital limb.

When a prosthesis leg was attached, she desperately struggled to balance and stand stably.

But her pursuit resulted in her perseverance and she was able to gradually and steadily

overcome the disability and attained the status of a distinct dancer. Figure 36 shows the

prosthesis right leg of Sudha Chandran. While the accomplishment of a dancer with a

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single leg astounds the audience, the achievements of athletes with no legs are

unbelievably amazing. Figure 38 depicts the cyborg of Aimee Mullins who is an

American athlete, actress, and a model. Both her legs were amputated when she was one

year old. She did not have the experience of normal walk. In spite of such a deprivation,

she achieved in her field. Yet another inspiring living personality is Oscar Pistorius. His

reputation as the ―fastest man on no legs‖ is gaining momentum with every race. A double amputee, the South African phenomenon is the world record holder in his category

for the 100, 200 and 400 meters sprints. Born without the fibula in both legs, Pistorius

was only 11 months old when his parents made the heart-wrenching decision to have his

limbs amputated below the knee. He says he never really knew anything different.

Pistorius, with his firm resolution and the impeccable assistance extended by science,

secured himself a place in the history books by becoming the first ever Paralympian to

win gold. Pistorius has now broken his own world records 27 times and is still working

toward becoming the fastest sprinter in the world. Despite his ambition to compete in the

2012 Olympics in London, he has no plans to stop running at the Paralympics, which

formed him into the competitive athlete he is today. Even in the face of such deprivations

they remarkably achieved in their fields. The above three are just a sample of those who

have significantly overcome their disabilities because of the development of scientific

technology. The advance method of prosthesis makes a heartwarming sign about the

possible success in the attainment of transhumanism.

The possibility of transhumanism is vaguely hinted at in one of Asimov‘s earliest

stories entitled ―Robot Visions‖. ―Robot Visions‖ traced the possible successors of

human beings in the world. In this story the return of Archie, a robot after its time travel

from the year 2230 and its aftermath are analysed. Archie‘s vivid report regarding life in

2230 astonished the Temporalists because Archie asserted that the future world seemed

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very systematic and prosperous. It also informed that in the future only one billion people

would survive. The junior Temporalists a humanoid assistant analysed the future

population. Archie the robot informed that in the future only one billion people would

survive. So the Junior Temporalist tried to analyze who would be that existing lot, and

how they could have survived the disaster which wiped out nine million people. They

argued, ―Who were the billion who survived? They were stronger than the other nine billion, perhaps? More enduring? More resistant to privation? And they were also more

sensible, more rational, and more virtuous than the nine billion who died as was quite

clear from Archie‘s picture of the world of two hundred years hence‖ (Asimov, Robot Visions 34).

People in the future would be rational and powerful but they would not be human

beings. Certainly, they were the ―humaniform‖ robots or transhuman. They would have

transformed the world into a perfect place for habitation. The Junior Temporalist was

proud to put forth that these human beings were the only most capable being to have

created their successor namely humanoid robots with intellect and power. It exclaimed,

―How many intelligent beings in the Universe had died out leaving no successor? Perhaps

we were the first ever to leave such a legacy. We had a right to feel proud‖ (Asimov, Robot Visions 35).

Asimov envisaged the possibility of the well conceived and well-constructed perfect

humanoids to be the survivors of man in future. The feasibility of such an

accomplishment is vividly scrutinized in his ―The Bicentennial Man‖. It can be taken to

be the best illustration for Asimov‘s both prophetic vision and visionary warning. This

story certainly contributed in triggering the thought process of researchers pertaining to

the transplantation of biological organs of human beings. At the same time the possible

danger of brainy machines superseding human beings is also hinted at. Asimov, through

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this story, can be said to have reached the pinnacle of his creativity wherein he has

created Andrew with highest aspirations aided with the necessary skill and power to

achieve that.

Isaac Asimov, through his ―The Bicentennial Man‖ and ―Robot Visions‖ foreshadowed the due consequences the creation of superhuman beings would result in. If

such transformations like from man to machine and vice versa take place then there

would be complete eviction of human race from the Earth leaving way for the super

humans to be the sole inhabitants of the universe.

Yet another vital warning and fear about these workaholic machines is that such

creations would automatically pave way for the deprivation of employment opportunities.

Unemployment is the most gruesome phenomenon that has gripped the human lot all

around the globe. When a single machine can undertake the task of many human beings,

it will undoubtedly deprive people of their employment.

Through ―Galley Slave‖ which was published in the Magazine Galaxy in 1957 and

included in The Rest of the Robots, Asimov gave a sample of life when machines are

substituted in the work place of man. The background of this story is 2033. Simon

Niheimer, a Professor of Sociology had a robot assistant, EZ-27 pronounced as Easy. This

robot‘s prime work is proof reading. In 1957, when the computer applications were not

completely carried out, Asimov anticipated proof reading robot. Today there are

numerous software available in order to correct the grammatical errors and with spell

check options. This online grammar checker detects all incorrect spellings, sentences and

punctuation marks.

Alfred, Lanning introduced Easy-27 robot to a Professor Simon Niheimer. He

informed him that Easy-27 was the first proof reading robot invented by U.S. Robots inc.,

The robot demonstrated its performance of proof reading the book, Physical Chemistry of

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Electrolytes in Solution. The following feedback was given by the robot Easy-27:

The robot said, ―It is a most accurate book and there is little to which I can point.

On line 22 of page 27, the word ‗positive‘ is spelled p-o-i-s-t-i-v-e. The comma in

line 6 of page 32 is superfluous, whereas one should have been used on line 13 of

page 54. The plus sign in equation XIV-2 on page 337 should be a minus sign if it

is to be consistent with the previous equations—‖ (Asimov, Robot Visions 358)

Simon Niheimer knew that, the robot‘s accurate assessment would induce the U.S. Robots to create numerous scholarly robots. He wanted to ruin the reputation of the

U.S. Robots inc. Easy-27 read the book Social Tensions Involved in Space Flight and

Their Resolution and finally approved that to be flawless. Niheimer deliberately created

notorious mistakes in the book in order to prove that Easy-27 was an imperfect robot. But

during the time of publication his colleague noticed the errors in the book.

U.S. Robots inc., was mystified and wanted to know the fact because they knew that

Easy would never make a mistake. But the Professor asserted that the mistake was done

by the robot. So U.S. Robots filed a case in the court and the Professor and the robot

attended the trial. Susan Calvin, the robopsychologist detected that Niheimer did the

mistake. He also acknowledged and explained that if the robot‘s success was let known to the wide world then the need for scholars would ebb. As a scholar he would not allow that

miserable end to human intellectual.

For two hundred and fifty years, the machine has been replacing Man and

destroying the handcraftsman. Pottery is spewed out of molds and presses. Works

of art have been replaced by identical gimcracks stamped out on a die. Call it

progress, if you wish! The artist is restricted to abstractions, confined to the world

of ideas. He must design something in mind—and then the machine does the rest.

(Asimov, Robot Dreams 393)

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This above quotation explicated the concept of Marxism. Karl Marx stated:

Owing to the extensive use of machinery, and to the division of labour, the work of

the proletarians has lost all individual character, and, consequently, all charm for

the workman. He becomes an appendage of the machine, and it is only the most

simple, most monotonous, and most easily acquired knack, that is required of him.

Hence, the cost of production of a workman is restricted, almost entirely, to the

means of subsistence that he requires for his maintenance, and for the propagation

of his race. (Marx and Engels 6)

Similar to the concept of the Marxists, Professor Niheimer too entertained the fear that

robots would replace human employers. So he wanted to prove that the robots could not

be substituted in the place of the human being. This echoed the anti-robot riot‘s notion that the artificial intelligence would demolish human scholarship and wipe out the human

employers in the various industries. So people who belonged to anti-robot movement

hated to make use of the labour of the robots. He accused:

Typewriters and printing presses take away some, but your robot would deprive us

of all. Your robot takes over the galleys. Soon it, or other robots, would take over

the original writing, the searching of the sources, the checking and cross-checking

of passages, perhaps even the deduction of conclusions. What would that leave the

scholar? One thing only—the barren decisions concerning what orders to give the

robot next! I want to save the future generations of the world of scholarship from

such a final hell. That meant more to me than even my own reputation and so I set

out to destroy U. S. Robots by whatever means. (Asimov, Robot Visions 394)

When the machines are introduced among the civilians it will only deny them the

scope for earning. The same machines when are adopted in the warfare affairs they could

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prevent human beings from death and at the same time they would promote the cause of

the complete annihilation of the human race.

Science fiction with its double-edged concept, namely, the inherent constructive and

destructive ability of science exhibits the way technology enhances the life style of the

society and warns about the crucial consequences when technology is manipulated.

Military science fiction is a sub genre of science fiction. This type of fiction disclosed the

reason behind the invention of advanced armaments during the Cold War. War is the

major theme of military science fiction. These fictions appeared after 1947 when the

hostility began to appear between United States and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

In the book Science Fiction: A Very Short Introduction, David Seed affirmed, ―In the vast

majority of nuclear war novels, the antagonist is the Soviet Union and the war is

described in reactive terms from the perspective of Americans on the ground, where

survival of the nation as well as individuals becomes the paramount problem‖ (106). At

the end of the Second World War commenced the conflict between United States and

Russia. This Cold War continued from 1945 to 1991. These two nations invested lot of

money to invent nuclear weapons. Novonty Lawrence in his ―Reflections of a Nation‘s

Angst; or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Twilight Zone‖ described the

emergence of the advance war equipments.

The Cold War gained greater momentum in 1949 when the Soviet Union equaled

the U.S.‘s military power, exploding its first atomic bomb. In the ensuing years, the

U.S and USSR continued testing nuclear weapons in the open air, exposing both

military personnel and civilians to harmful doses of radiation from fallout. These

acts created a looming fear of a nuclear holocaust that permeated the fabric of

American society. (13)

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Though it was the German military which developed the World's first ballistic missile

and later put the first jet plane into service, technological skill and application swept up in

the Soviet and American arsenal in the years right after the war. During these years many

Military Science Fictions were published and the writers used the platform to defend their

own nations. Asimov despite being a Russian born writer wrote in support of U. S.

Military.

Asimov‘s ―Let's Get Together" was published in the February 1957 issue of Infinity Science Fiction and incorporated in the collections The Rest of the Robots in1964 and The

Complete Robot in 1982. The robots in this tale were atypical from Asimov's earlier

robot. The ambience was the Cold War hostility between the US and the USSR which

continued till the end of the 20th

century. Asimov was not a pessimist so his innovation

never made a holocaust. In this tale he brought out how the technology was tainted. The

world organization endeavours to preclude the Third World War, because it will be a

nuclear war. Asimov forecasted that the future war would be cybernetic war and this war

was the central theme of the story. According to Asimov, cybernetic creations such as

computers, robots, biogenetically engineered organisms and cyborgs, would be treated as

war equipments in the future.

Usually people, depending upon the locale of the places addressed nations as Western

and Eastern but in the short story ―Let‘s Get Together‖ they were addressed as Us and Them. Us referred to its own country people and Them refers to other. The opening

passage shows,

It was a cultural habit of this generation and the one preceding. No one said the

‗East,‘ or the ‗Reds‘ or the ‗Soviets‘ or the ‗Russians‘ any more. That would have

been too confusing, since some of Them weren‘t of the East, weren‘t Reds, Soviets,

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and especially not Russians. It was much simpler to say We and They, and much

more precise.

Travelers had frequently reported that They did the same in reverse. Over there,

They were ‗We‘ [in the appropriate language] and We were ‗They‘ (Asimov, Rest

of the Robots 77).

In this story, USSR premeditated to blast a bomb in America. They sent ten android

robots impersonated as ten scientists to America. The androids were instructed to remain

scattered. As per the programmed design, when the androids gather together their

propinquity to each other will set the bomb off. This plan of destruction plan was sensed

by the American Security Agency. President‘s First Assistant, Jeffery, the Secretary of

Science, the Secretary of Security and Security agents Lynn and Breckenridge discussed

how to find out when and where the humanoids would get together and how to prevent it.

The digital bomb‘s status of function was described as follows:

They were ten humanoid robots somewhere in the United States, each one carrying

a fragment of a TC bomb. T.C! The race for sheer horror in bomb-ery had ended

there. T.C! Total Conversion! The sun was no longer a synonym one could use.

Total conversion made the sun a penny candle. Ten humanoids, each completely

harmless in separation, could, by the simple act of coming together, exceed critical

mass. (Asimov, Rest of the Robots 83)

Asimov brought out the security theatre system in this story. Usually in the restricted

places security agents scan the people before they are allowed entry. This scan will locate

the hidden weapon. In this story Asimov introduced X- ray machines to identify whether

the entrant was human or robot. The five persons took all the possible measures to find

out the humanoid robots. Cyber security awareness was given by the writer. The

government authorities tried to identify the humanoids without the knowledge of the

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people. Jeffery gave a suggestion to fix X-Ray machines in places where people would

gather in great number like church and large cities. But Lynn said that it would be as

strenuous as searching a small needle in the large haystack.

Breckenridge suggested to arrange a conference for all the scientists including

astrophysicists and geochemists to discuss how to differentiate human and humanoid

brains. Jeffery permitted to conduct the conference but Lynn suspected Breckenridge.

Lynn accused Breckenridge that he purposely arranged a meeting and provided a chance

to the ten humanoid robots to get together.

Quite a coincidence that you brought the news of the humanoids and suggested the

conference and suggested the agenda and are running the show and know exactly

which scientists were invited. Did you make sure the right ten were included?

‗Dr. Lynn!‘ cried Breckenridge in outrage. He poised to rush forward.

Lynn said, ‗Don‘t move. I‗ve got a blaster here. We‘ll just wait for the scientists to

get here one by one. One by one we‘ll X-ray them. One by one, we‘ll monitor them

for radioactivity. No two will get together without being checked, and if all five

hundred are clear, I‘ll give you my blaster and surrender to you. Only I think we‘ll

find the ten humanoids. Sit down, Breckenridge. (Asimov, Rest of the Robots 95)

Lazlo, the Chief Robotist too, exactly at that instant discovered that Breckenridge was

a humanoid robot and also sensed that Breckenridge warned the other humanoid robots

about the security system. So they dropped the plan to arrange for the assembly. Lazlo

rushed to Lynn to inform about this fact and there he noticed Breckenridge was sitting at

Lynn‘s gun point. When the moment Lazlo informed that Breckenridge was also a

humanoid Lynn could not control his annoyance and shot him. ―God! Cried Lynn and in a

frenzy of haste thrust his blaster out toward Breckenridge and fired. The security man‘s

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neck vanished; the torso fell; the head dropped, thudded against the floor and rolled

crookedly . . . Not blood, but high-grade machine oil‖ (Asimov, Rest of the Robots 96-77).

In this story Asimov introduced robots which were used as war gadgets. Asimov

warned the people about the possibilities of the cyber war and cyber attack. May 2009,

Barack Hussein Obama the forty fourth President of the United States expressed the

seriousness of the cyber war in the Cybernetic Legislative Proposal. His statement was

published in the web page, Whitehouse Factsheet. It stated, ―President Obama has

declared that the cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security

challenges we face as a nation‖. World in the twenty first century anticipates the

occurrence of the cyber war. Richard A. Clarke, Secretary of Defense of the U.S.

Government declared in the article ―China's Cyberassault on America‖ :

The government of China is systematically attacking the computer networks of the

U.S. government and American corporations. Beijing is successfully stealing

research and development, software source code, manufacturing know-how and

government plans. In a global competition among knowledge-based economies,

Chinese cyber operations are eroding America's advantage. (n. pag.)

Indian government established National Defense University and Defense Intelligence

Agency (DIA) to avoid cyber attack by other nations. The development of World Wide

Web network connects the world. The greatest disadvantage of this network is that it

extends easy access to anyone about anything. The rival countries can very easily retrieve

information about each other. This world connectivity thus paved way for the cyber

attack. In the short story ―Machine That Won The War‖ Asimov brought out the least known concept of cybernetic threat. It first appeared in the October 1961 issue of The

Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and was incorporated in the collection Robot

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Dreams in 1986. The time frame was after the war between Earth and Deneb, the

brightest star. Multivac's Chief Programmer John Henderson, the Interpreter Max

Jablonsky, and the Chief Executive Lamar Swift scrutinized the war plan which yielded

them success. Based on the available data, a sharp analysis was made by Multivac and it

offered them the impeccable success formula. The data regarding the war were all

uploaded in Multivac an advanced computer. So people regarded Multivac as the hero of

the war.

The truth on the other hand was that Henderson uploaded incorrect data unknowingly.

When he realized that his data was incorrect he hid the secret in order to save his job.

After the war, John Henderson confessed that he entered the wrong data in Multivac. So

he affirmed that the success was not grounded on the battle plan of Multivac. Jablonsky

informed that he modified the data because he felt that the data was incorrect and he

ascertained that Multivac prepared the best plan. But, Lamar Swift disclosed that he had

not trusted the plan framed by Multivac, and it was his final decision which determined

the course of the war. He had to decide whether to accept the proposed plan of Multivac

or to prepare a new one. Here Asimov makes a dig at the decisive ability of the so called

intellectuals. The device adopted by swift to decide is quite disheartening.

He held the last coin between his fingers, staring absently at it. "Multivac is not

the first computer, friends, nor the best-known, nor the one that can most efficiently

lift the load of decision from the shoulders of the executive. A machine did win the

war, John; at least a very simple computing device (he refers to the coin) did; one

that I used every time I had a particularly hard decision to make."

With a faint smile of reminiscence, he flipped the coin he held. It glinted in the

air as it spun and came down in Swift's outstretched palm. His hand closed over it

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and brought it down on the back of his left hand. His right hand remained in place,

hiding the coin.

"Heads or tails, gentlemen?" said Swift. (Asimov, Robot Dreams 151)

The end of the story revealed the fact that however sound and appropriate the

technology had been, if man did not make accurate use of that it would lose its value.

Asimov in this story warned about the cyber attackers also. Henderson entered wrong

data, with his mere intuition Jablonsky made some modifications in the existing data and

Swift considered it outrage and prepared a new data. Like this, cyber attackers could also

hack the data and the updated programme would malfunction. In addition to the hacking

of the defense secrets, they would also steal the bank identity of the account holders,

business information, tracking of emails and intellectual property. The bureau of

investigation faces this challenge currently but this visionary warning was given by

Asimov through, ―Machine That Won The War‖ in 1961 itself.

―The Tercentenary Incident‖ first published in the magazine Ellery Queen‟s Mystery

Magazine, August 1976, was compiled in the collection The Complete Robot in 1982.

This story was the sequel to ―Evidence‖. In the story ‗Evidence‖, Susan Calvin, the

robopyschologist, was assigned with the responsibility to find out the truth about the

identity of Barley a prospective Mayor candidate. The doubt was that Barley was not a

human but a humanoid. Susan Calvin, after careful scrutiny, declared Barley as a human

while the truth was otherwise. The reason was the humanoid, which adhered strictly to the

three laws, would never indulge in any act that would be against the welfare of humanity.

Hence, to provide a perfect administrator she hid the truth and announced Barley as a

human. Asimov probed into the same notion after a lapse of three decades in his ―The

Tercentenary Incident‖.

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This story began on 4th July 2076 and three hundred years after the founding of

America. The story opened with the speech of the seventy-fifth President, Hugo Allen

Winkler. The president appeared in front of ten thousand people in Washington to deliver

his speech. Secret Service agent, Lawrence Edwards considered the President as a vote-

grabber because during his tenure in the last five years, the President failed to abide by

his promise. Edwards, standing at the top of a building of two hundred feet height,

watched the meeting. Through holovision screen he closely watched the happenings.

Unfortunately a mysterious accident occurred and the President literally vanished in thin

air:

There was no sign of disturbance. Just a little puff of white dust, hardly visible;

just a momentary glitter in the sunlight, up and away, gone as soon as he was aware

of it.

Where was the President? He had lost sight of him in the dust. He looked about

in the vicinity of where he had seen him last. The President could not have moved

far. (Asimov, The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories 157)

Few minutes later the President appeared on the stage and said that the disappeared

figure was a mechanical device which was taken after him. The President declared,

―Nothing has happened to me, my fellow Americans. What you have seen just now was the breakdown of a mechanical device. It was not your President, so let us not allow a

mechanical failure to dampen the celebration of the happiest day the world has yet seen.

. . . My fellow Americans, give me your attention--‖ (Asimov, The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories 157). He gave a stirring speech which was absolutely different from his

usual way. Edwards could not forget the assassination in the public. He had been probing

into it. After two years of the occurrence, the hidden truth about the assassination was

detected by Edwards. He met Janek, the Personal Secretary of the President and disclosed

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the truth that the existing President was not a human but humanoid. Janek refused to

accept Edwards‘s assumption because for the last two years he had been working in very

close proximity with the President and he did not sense any difference in the activities of

the President. Edwards was stable in his argument. Janek firmly refused to agree with

Edwards.

Edwards, to substantiate his argument, explained Janek that a disintegrator ray fell on

the President and it destroyed the President. A disintegrator ray was an energy beam

which would devastate an object by disintegrating the essential components. This

disintegrator was the fictional device adopted by Asimov. Edwards pointed out that the

dangerous disintegrator ray was more powerful than even the nuclear weapons.

But if a disintegrator exists and is as secret as all that, it must be an American

monopoly, unknown to the rest of the Federation. It would then not be something

either you or I should talk about. It could be a more dangerous war weapon than the

nuclear bombs, precisely because--if what you say is so--it produces nothing more

than disintegration at the point of impact and cold in the immediate neighborhood.

No blast, no fire, no deadly radiation. Without these distressing side effects, there

would be no deterrent to its use, yet for all we know it might be made large enough

to destroy the planet itself. (Asimov, The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories 160)

In the story ―The Tercentenary Incident‖ Asimov warned that the developed nations tried to invent a bomb which would be more powerful than nuclear bomb. If they

discovered the most powerful one then the enemy nation would have no other choice but

to surrender to the most powerful. This is akin to the surrender of Japan to U.S. during the

Second World War.

On August 6, 1945, the Japanese city of Hiroshima was destroyed by a nuclear

weapon, an atomic bomb dropped by the United States. Three days later, a second

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atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki; five days after that, Japan

unconditionally surrendered to the United States, bringing an end to World War II.

The atomic bombs killed several hundred thousand people, many instantly in the

nuclear fire, many later with burns, injuries and radiation sickness, and still many

others, over the years, with cancers and birth defects. These deaths continue to this

day. (Nuclear Darkness n. pag.)

Atom bombs, when blasted, would effect in two types of radiation namely initial and

residual. Initial radiation was released at the explosion time itself but the residual

radiation would occur later. Japan, the entire nation, lost its identity. Such was the

devastation caused by the nuclear war. Even the children who are born in Fallujah today

happen to be the victims of the radiation effect. They were suffering from paralysis or

brain damage. While figure 39 depicts the devastating destruction of a whole nation

owing to bomb blast, its inexplicable and indelible impact on individuals is brought to the

preview through figure 40. Japan with its optimistic aspirants managed to renovate the

infrastructure of the nation but they could not do away with the radiation affect which

keeps damaging the biological cells. The result is in Fallujah till date, children are born

with one or other physical deformities.

Fig.39. The Result of the Deadly War Fig. 40. Fallujah Children Birth Defects

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If the technology like disintegrator ray is invented then the entire world would be blast

in no time leaving and no trace of existence. People came to know about the name of

deadly weapons such as ray guns, blasters, flechette pistols, and laser guns through

science fiction. All these things were not invented until 1960. Science fiction writers also

introduced characters who were mostly armed with atomic blasters and disintegrator rays.

The laser gun and robots all came true and this implies the probability of the invention of

disintegrator rays too, which it would result in the global devastation. Doctors struggle to

find out solution for the radiation defect but their helplessness indicates that the future

omnipotent war gadgets would lead planets to non existence.

In ―Let‘s Get Together‖ also Asimov warned about the cybernetic bombs. From the

Stone Age, war is an inevitable phenomenon. Gradually war became a necessity to prove

the supremacy of one nation over other nations. Now the military is preparing for the

cyber war. The following speech was delivered by Neil Postman under the title Informing

Ourselves to Death, ―Technology giveth and technology taketh away, and not always in equal measure. A new technology sometimes creates more than it destroys. Sometimes, it

destroys more than it creates. But it is never one sided‖. (qtd. in Mehan 5)

Erin A. McDaniel, Major of US Army declared in his Robot Wars: Legal and Ethical

Dilemmas of Sing Unmanned Robotic Systems In 21Century Warfare And Beyond that all

these cyber gadgets and its deadly result occurred due to the neglect of the laws of Isaac

Asimov.

In conclusion, any writing pertaining to ‗robots‘ is probably not complete without

mentioning the ―Three Laws of Robotics,‖ . . . Today, such laws seem somewhat

ridiculous and oversimplified. However, in 1942 it is certain that these laws were

solid principles that existed during a time where ―robots‖ were topics of mere fiction

and wild imagination. Ironically, ‗robots‘ of today have already broken a portion of

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Asimov‘s First Law: ―a robot may not injure a human being‖ (Rogers 2006). Will

humans allow this trend to continue? (79)

McDaniel suggested in the recommendations ―Unmanned robotic systems will remain

under the control of human operators until the issues of automated discrimination and

proportionality can be resolved and unmanned robotic systems possess the ability to abide

by the current laws of warfare better than humans‖ (81).

Like ―The Bicentennial Man‖, ―. . . That Thou Art Mindful of Him‖ also explored the

way the robots would twist their interpretation of the Laws if they grow more refined. ". .

. That Thou Art Mindful of Him" was first published in the May 1974 issue of Fantasy

and Science Fiction and it was complied in The Complete Robot in 1982. The title of this

story referred the Psalm 8: 4: ―What is man that thou art mindful of him, /and

the son of man that thou dost care for him?" (The Holy Bible 493). In this story, the robots

were the vital makers of colonies in Moon and other planets. U.S. Robots had sent robots

to the uninhabited planets to create a perfect environment for the sustenance of human

beings. They scrutinized the living possibilities and made the required alterations and

constructed residential colonies in the planets.

Once the human occupied the colonies, the robots were sent back to U.S. Robot

because of their innate fear that in future human might be replaced by the robots. The

dwelling places in the colonies were created by the robots but they could not find place in

that colonies and they were sent to Earth .U.S. Robot received numerous robots and that

economically affected the firm. The world government ordered the U.S. Robots to close

their company because of the monetary loss. Heith Harriman, The Director of Research at

U. S. Robots inc., stated:

The Moon colony, for instance, grows more sophisticated, its demand for robots

decreases and we expect that, within the next few years, robots will be banned on

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the Moon. This will be repeated on every world colonized by mankind. Secondly,

true prosperity is impossible without robots on Earth. We at U. S. Robots firmly

believe that human beings need robots and must learn to live with their mechanical

analogues if progress is to be maintained. (Asimov, The Bicentennial Man and

Other Stories 50)

The above statement clearly reflects the aftermath of the colonialism. Oppression and

neglect of rights are the major issues of colonialism. The natives are treated as slaves and

they are subjugated by the imperialists and this same ideology was present in the story

―That Thou Art Mindful of Him‖. The robots were the original inhabitants of the planets. But after the arrival of the man, robots who were the creators of the colony could not

establish the rights to exist there.

Colonialism is a relationship of domination between an indigenous (or forcibly

imported) majority and a minority of foreign invaders. The fundamental decisions

affecting the lives of the colonized people are made and implemented by the

colonial rulers in pursuit of interests that are often defined in a distant metropolis.

Rejecting cultural compromises with the colonized population, the colonizers are

convinced of their own superiority and of their ordained mandate to rule.

(Osterhammel 16-17)

After the human invasion in the planet, the robots were not permitted to stay there.

Their constructive constructional works were applauded but they were hated because of

the thought that the robots might become their substitutes. Since the foreign invaders in

the colonized countries could not allow the natives to be powerful persons, they

marginalized the natives. They treated the natives as their competitor. One day or the

other when they acquired the power to attack the invaders, they had to definitely lose their

imperialism so they were highly vigilant about the performance of the natives. Similar to

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this actuality, people in the other planets in the story, thought that in future the robots

might be their rivals. So like the imperialists they overthrew the robots by banishing them

from their planet.

Like the immigrants, the robots could find their due place neither in Earth which was

its native land nor in the alien planets. Heath Harriman could not comprehend the cause

for the fear of people. His inability to find a viable solution to this unreasonable

technophobia of people resulted in his inventing George Ten series robots. George Ten

robot required a companion robot to analyse the issue. So Harriman permitted the robots

to discuss and find out a perfect solution for the dilemma. George Ten and George Nine

discussed why the people considered robots as their competitors and how to purge the

technophobia.

―In that case,‖ said George Ten, ―give me your reactions to what I will say. First,

human beings fear and distrust robots because they regard robots as competitors.

How may that be prevented?‖

―Reduce the feeling of competitiveness,‖ said George Nine, ―by shaping the robot

as something other than a human being.‖

―Yet the essence of a robot is its positronic replication of life. A replication of life

in a shape not associated with life might arouse horror.‖

―There are two million species of life forms. Choose one of those as the shape

rather than that of a human being.‖ (Asimov, The Bicentennial Man and Other

Stories 61)

These two robots finally decided to create robots in animal shapes with less

intelligence and power. Then there might not be any cause for the human to be anxious

about his secure existence. Such limited functioning ability did not require the Three

Laws of Robotics. They created robot bird and introduced it to Harriman. ―Harriman said

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softly to the robo-bird resting on the palm of his right hand, ―Go!‖. The robo-bird was

gone. It was a whizz through the air, with no blur of wings, only the tiny workings of an

unusually small proton micro-pile‖ (Asimov, The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories

63). Harriman also felt that human could feel comfortable with robots taken after

subhuman shapes. He deactivated the George robots and they were stored in a room. The

standby power permitted the electronic device to complete the task even in it is turned off

mode. The two robots tried to define who is human being. George Ten affirmed, ―I must

take it to mean that I must obey a human being who is fit by mind, character, and

knowledge to give me that order; and where more than one human being is involved, the

one among them who is most fit by mind, character, and knowledge to give that order‖

(Asimov, The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories 67- 68).

The robots discussed the expected traits of the human nature. They firmly believed

that they were undoubtedly superior to human beings. In future if the positronic robots

would be activated then also certainly robots would obey and follow the orders of human

beings provided they are fit by mind, character and knowledge. People, who sincerely

follow the First Laws of Humanics, are treated as fit. The three laws are:

1. A human being may not injure another human being, or through inaction, allow

a human being to come to harm.

2. A human being must obey the orders given him by his moral conscience,

except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A human being must protect his own existence, as long as such protection does

not conflict with the First or Second Laws. (Asimov, The Bicentennial Man

and Other Stories 6)

Here in lies the subtle warning of Asimov for the humanity. The failure of human

beings in following the laws of humanics would lead to man‘s surrender to machine.

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Science fiction writers with their imagination introduced lot of advanced technologies.

They not only introduced but also warn the society regarding how to utilize the

technologies. Men should be conscious to protect his self-reliance. He must discriminate

between the difficult tasks and the easier ones. Where it is possible, he should try to

accomplish the work by his own effort. In the story ―The Feeling of The Power‖ Asimov

depicted a society which did not have the computing skill. This reveals the people‘s distrust about their talent which would lead them to forget the fundamental of basic

mathematics. Ralph Waldo Emerson avowed the importance of self-reliance in his Self-

Reliance. ―It is easy to see that a greater self-reliance must work a revolution in all the offices and relations of men; in their religion; in their education; in their pursuits; their

modes of living; their association; in their property; in their speculative views. (33)

Asimov‘s contributions for the genre of science fiction were not oriented for mere

entertainment but that of, for the enlightenment of the human race. Most of the people are

fascinated by the advance technologies. People in the post-modern era realize the value of

Asimov‘s warning because some of them have already been proved.

People explore the universe with the help of computer and attain great success through

technology. ‗The castle in the sky‘ as a phrase might denote the improbabilities. This is

no more a fantasy because with the establishment of space station this amazing one too

has become a fact. This once again signifies the power of science to transform the entire

phenomena of the universe. Science has enabled man to achieve such wonders but that

does not justify the claim that science is superior to human brain. Actually the invaluable

concepts and principles of science are the brain children of man. Alexander pope in his

Essay on Man asserted the superiority of the posterity over its predecessors as ―We think

our father fools, so wise we grow; / Our wiser sons, no doubt, will think us so‖ (275). The

biological children may claim such a status but never could the brain children. When we

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finally do extend the living range of humanity throughout space, possibly throughout the

entire solar system and out into the stars, it will be done in tandem with advanced

computers that will be as intelligent as we are, but never identically intelligent to humans.

They will need us as much as we will need them" (Asimov, In Joy Still Felt 9).

Asimov through his ―The Feeling of Power‖ firmly stated that the human brain was the most powerful one. The instant Shuman realized his powerful computing skill, he reveals

at the great revelation. When one learns to utilize science in proper place and prudently

they would never need to be over dependent on the technology, ―Nine times seven,

thought Shuman with deep satisfaction, is sixty-three, and I don‘t need a computer to tell

me so. The computer is in my own head. And it was amazing the feeling of power that

gave him‖ (Asimov, Robot Dreams 269). Human brain, when put to constant use, will

transform an ordinary man into an extraordinary genius, if it had not been properly

utilized, as Ulysses regretted, ―To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use! / As tho' to

breathe were life‖ (Tennyson 147), the human species certainly could not have evolved

into the supreme species, that it is.

Machines though are created by human beings have the power to make and mar its

own creator. Too much of anything is dangerous. Asimov has brought out the power of

science to enhance the life of human beings. Judicious use of and adequate employment

of machines in the personal, professional, political and social life of people will result in

creating an Eden on Earth. Excessive dependence and absolute reliance on machines will

turn the self-reliant man into a helpless and miserable victim of machine. It is hence up to

the man to decide and design his life devoting the required place for machines lest he

should lose his place.

It is customary with Asimov to encourage, enlighten and warn his readers with his

notions through his fictions and short stories. Nature has endowed the human species with

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irreplaceable inherent skills that deemed them the status of the noblest creation. Ironically

the more depend on the machines the more would they lose their potent abilities. It is only

man‘s strong self-will to surpass all the other creatures that has resulted in his present glorious state. The self-trust and self-reliance that he has cultivated to achieve the desired

result have also gradually driven him towards addition to the technology. As the unused

tail in the body of the Stone Age man has ceased its presence, the unused skills will also

be lost in due course of time. Hence, it is high time, human beings must not allow their

latent resources to remain idle and lose them. This concern about the invaluable loss

made the lover of science to warn adequately his brethren to be cautious about the

employment of machines in actuality.