Asimov, Isaac - Foundation Series 05 The Positronic Man by Asimov Isaac

Author:Asimov, Isaac
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf

Page 64

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The trouble was that humans themselves were not always logical-were, on occasion, downright illogical-and robots were not always capable of coping with the swoops and curves and tangents of human thought.

So it was humans themselves who sometimes led robots into violations of one or another of the Three Laws-and then, in their illogical way, often would blame the robots themselves for having done something undesirable which in fact they had actually been ordered to do by their human masters.

Andrew handled these chapters with the utmost care and delicacy, revising and revising them to eliminate any possibility of bias. It was not his intention to write a diatribe against the flaws of mankind.

His prime goal, as always, was to serve the needs of mankind.

The original purpose of writing his book might have been to arrive at a deeper understanding of his own relationship to the human beings who were his creators-but as he proceeded with it he saw that, if properly and thoughtfully done, the book could be an invaluable bridge between humans and robots, a source of enlightenment not only for robots but for the flesh-and-blood species that had brought them into the world. Anything that enabled humans and robots to get along better would permit robots to be of greater service to humanity; and that, of course, was the reason for their existence.

When he had finished half his book, Andrew asked George Charney to read what he had written and offer suggestions for its improvement. Several years had passed since the death of Little Miss, and George himself seemed unwell now, his once robust frame gaunt, his hair nearly gone. He looked at Andrew's bulky manuscript with an expression of barely masked discomfort and said, "I'm not really much of a writer myself, you know, Andrew."

"I'm not asking for your opinion of my literary style, George. It's my ideas that I want you to evaluate. I need to know whether there's anything in the manuscript that might be offensive to human beings."

"I'm sure there isn't, Andrew. You have always been the soul of courtesy."

"I would never knowingly give offense, that is true. But the possibility that I would inadvertently-"

George sighed. "Yes. Yes, I understand. All right, I'll read your book, Andrew. But you know that I've been getting tired very easily these days. It may take me a while to plow all the way through it."

"There is no hurry," said Andrew.

Indeed George took his time: close to a year. When he finally returned the manuscript to Andrew, though, there was no more than half a page of notes attached to it, the most minor factual corrections and nothing more.

Andrew said mildly, "I had hoped for criticisms of a more general kind, George."

"I don't have any general criticisms to make. It's a remarkable work.

Remarkable. It's a truly profound study of its subject. You should be proud of what you've done."

"But where I touch on the topic of how human irrationality has often led to Three Laws difficulties-"

"Absolutely on the mark, Andrew.

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