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"That Thou Art Mindful of Him" was commissioned by Ed Ferman and Barry Malzberg for an anthology entitled
Final Stage,
published in 1974, which was intended to contain the ultimate stories on a variety of themes. Asimov's, of course, was on robots. The story also was published in
Fantasy and Science Fiction,
May 1974. It returns to the Second Law: how can a robot judge whether or not to obey an order,
i.e.,
what is a human being? In space the question is not as important, since most humans in space are responsible. But if robots are to be introduced on Earth, a diverse group of uninformed humans will be able to give them orders, and robots must be able to discriminate. JG ("George") models are created to make that judgment; they will begin by obeying all orders and then learn discrimination. George Ten persuades his creator to allow him to discuss the matter with George Nine. They come up with one solution to the introduction of robots on Earth: USR can make simple robots such as robot birds, bugs, and worms, that can handle ecological problems, and do not need the Three Laws because they are limited to simple actions. These robots will begin the process of accustoming humanity to robots. Meanwhile, George Ten and Nine come to the conclusion that only they are human. Eventually, they will take over. It seems the Frankenstein complex has proved not so illogical after all. With "That Thou Art Mindful of Him," Asimov appeared to have written himself out of the positronic robot series. But he was above such petty inconsistencies.
Final Stage,
published in 1974, which was intended to contain the ultimate stories on a variety of themes. Asimov's, of course, was on robots. The story also was published in
Fantasy and Science Fiction,
May 1974. It returns to the Second Law: how can a robot judge whether or not to obey an order,
i.e.,
what is a human being? In space the question is not as important, since most humans in space are responsible. But if robots are to be introduced on Earth, a diverse group of uninformed humans will be able to give them orders, and robots must be able to discriminate. JG ("George") models are created to make that judgment; they will begin by obeying all orders and then learn discrimination. George Ten persuades his creator to allow him to discuss the matter with George Nine. They come up with one solution to the introduction of robots on Earth: USR can make simple robots such as robot birds, bugs, and worms, that can handle ecological problems, and do not need the Three Laws because they are limited to simple actions. These robots will begin the process of accustoming humanity to robots. Meanwhile, George Ten and Nine come to the conclusion that only they are human. Eventually, they will take over. It seems the Frankenstein complex has proved not so illogical after all. With "That Thou Art Mindful of Him," Asimov appeared to have written himself out of the positronic robot series. But he was above such petty inconsistencies.
"The Life and Times of Multivac,"
New York Times Magazine,
January 5, 1975, returned to the theme of the omniscient, omnipotent computer. In "The Evitable Conflict," the Machines had taken over control of everything because they knew what was good for humanity, but they kept their omniscience and omnipotence to themselves. In "That Thou Art Mindful of Him," the Machines, it was revealed, had phased themselves out, perhaps unwisely(!), after they perceived their job was done. In the present story, a few people have begun to perceive a similar takeover by Multivac as slavery. Ronald Bakst gains the confidence of Multivac and supplies it with a problem in his field of mathematical
games that he says could lead to human genetic changes that would create a humanity more likely to accept Multivac's direction. Bakst is viewed as a traitor to humanity but uses Multivac's distraction to uncouple a joint at a key spot and burn out the computer. At the end, as the other rebels stare at him, Bakst asks uncertainly, "Isn't that what you want?" Such ambiguity is unusual in Asimov.
New York Times Magazine,
January 5, 1975, returned to the theme of the omniscient, omnipotent computer. In "The Evitable Conflict," the Machines had taken over control of everything because they knew what was good for humanity, but they kept their omniscience and omnipotence to themselves. In "That Thou Art Mindful of Him," the Machines, it was revealed, had phased themselves out, perhaps unwisely(!), after they perceived their job was done. In the present story, a few people have begun to perceive a similar takeover by Multivac as slavery. Ronald Bakst gains the confidence of Multivac and supplies it with a problem in his field of mathematical
games that he says could lead to human genetic changes that would create a humanity more likely to accept Multivac's direction. Bakst is viewed as a traitor to humanity but uses Multivac's distraction to uncouple a joint at a key spot and burn out the computer. At the end, as the other rebels stare at him, Bakst asks uncertainly, "Isn't that what you want?" Such ambiguity is unusual in Asimov.
"The Tercentenary Incident,"
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine,
August 1976, offered a new look at the question of the robot as political leader. At a Fourth of July celebration around the Washington Monument in 2076, the President of the United States, which now is a part of a planetary Federation, is disintegrated. But he then appears upon the platform to announce that what had happened had been the breakdown of a robot made to serve certain presidential functions. President Winkler becomes a great President. But a Secret Service agent named Edwards, who had seen the incident, believes that the real President had been disintegrated by a new and secret weapon and replaced by a robot. Edwards tries to convince the President's personal secretary of this truth, and urges him to observe the President closely and, if he discovers sufficient evidence, to persuade him to resign. But the secretary turns out to have been part of the scheme from the beginning and now must do away with Edwards. Asimov noted in an afterword that this story was a return to the theme developed in "Evidence" thirty years previously and suggested that he had come up with a better story and perhaps a better answer to the question of robots and political power.
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine,
August 1976, offered a new look at the question of the robot as political leader. At a Fourth of July celebration around the Washington Monument in 2076, the President of the United States, which now is a part of a planetary Federation, is disintegrated. But he then appears upon the platform to announce that what had happened had been the breakdown of a robot made to serve certain presidential functions. President Winkler becomes a great President. But a Secret Service agent named Edwards, who had seen the incident, believes that the real President had been disintegrated by a new and secret weapon and replaced by a robot. Edwards tries to convince the President's personal secretary of this truth, and urges him to observe the President closely and, if he discovers sufficient evidence, to persuade him to resign. But the secretary turns out to have been part of the scheme from the beginning and now must do away with Edwards. Asimov noted in an afterword that this story was a return to the theme developed in "Evidence" thirty years previously and suggested that he had come up with a better story and perhaps a better answer to the question of robots and political power.
"The Bicentennial Man,"
Stellar Science Fiction,
No. 2, February 1976, provides a kind of counterpart to "Robbie." Like Robbie, NDR ("Andrew") is a loyal and loving servant. He loves and serves the Martins. Unlike Robbie, Andrew not only can talk but, by some strange combination of brain pathways, can also create art and learn. The Martin family benefits by selling his art but also deposits half the income in a bank for Andrew's benefit and sees that he is provided every robot improvement. Finally, Andrew asks to buy his freedom, begins to wear clothes, writes a history of robots, obtains legal rights for robots, has his brain put in an organic body, and becomes a robobiologist. While USR develops ways of making robots with more precise positronic pathways (to avoid a repetition of Andrew) and then of making robots controlled by a central brain (as in "With Folded Hands"), Andrew develops a system for gaining energy for his new body from the combustion of hydrocarbons. He also learns to reason that what seems like cruelty might, in the long run, be kindness. When asked where all this is leading,
Andrew says, ''My body is a canvas on which I intend to draw" A roboticist completes the sentence: "A man?" For his accomplishments Andrew is honored as the Sesquicentennial Robot on the 150th anniversary of his construction. He then wants to be declared a man by the World Legislature. After twenty-six years of defeat, Andrew recognizes that human antipathy toward him is rooted in his immortality, and he arranges for the potential to be drained slowly from his brain so that he will die within a year. On his 200th anniversary, the World President signs the act and declares the dying Andrew "a Bicentennial Man." Andrew's last thoughts are of the child to which he was nursemaid.
Stellar Science Fiction,
No. 2, February 1976, provides a kind of counterpart to "Robbie." Like Robbie, NDR ("Andrew") is a loyal and loving servant. He loves and serves the Martins. Unlike Robbie, Andrew not only can talk but, by some strange combination of brain pathways, can also create art and learn. The Martin family benefits by selling his art but also deposits half the income in a bank for Andrew's benefit and sees that he is provided every robot improvement. Finally, Andrew asks to buy his freedom, begins to wear clothes, writes a history of robots, obtains legal rights for robots, has his brain put in an organic body, and becomes a robobiologist. While USR develops ways of making robots with more precise positronic pathways (to avoid a repetition of Andrew) and then of making robots controlled by a central brain (as in "With Folded Hands"), Andrew develops a system for gaining energy for his new body from the combustion of hydrocarbons. He also learns to reason that what seems like cruelty might, in the long run, be kindness. When asked where all this is leading,
Andrew says, ''My body is a canvas on which I intend to draw" A roboticist completes the sentence: "A man?" For his accomplishments Andrew is honored as the Sesquicentennial Robot on the 150th anniversary of his construction. He then wants to be declared a man by the World Legislature. After twenty-six years of defeat, Andrew recognizes that human antipathy toward him is rooted in his immortality, and he arranges for the potential to be drained slowly from his brain so that he will die within a year. On his 200th anniversary, the World President signs the act and declares the dying Andrew "a Bicentennial Man." Andrew's last thoughts are of the child to which he was nursemaid.
"The Bicentennial Man" was a fitting conclusion to the robot saga. At last Asimov had arrived at the essential question: What is the difference between robots and humans? He first asked the question in "Evidence." He brought up and dismissed external evidence; even actions might only demonstrate that Byerley is an extremely good man. In "Victory Unintentional," the robots are believed by the Jovians to be humans and a superior race because the robots never say they are not. In "Let's Get Together," the question of distinguishing humanoids from humans is short-circuited by induction. In "Risk," the reader learns that the difference between robots and humans is that humans can be given general orders; in "Lenny," that humans, and only unusual kinds of robots, can learn. "That Thou Art Mindful of Him" speculates that, given the opportunity to make a judgment, robots will decide on the basis of their superiority that only they are human. "The Tercentenary Incident" distinguishes robot from human only by superior performance.
In "The Bicentennial Man," Asimov follows the question to its final answer. Andrew's first human attribute is his artistic ability, but this is not enough, nor is his bank account. The distinguishing characteristic seems to be freedom, but that is not enough. Andrew continues to explore the differences between humans and robots in an effort to discover the definitive answer: humans wear clothes and robots do not; humans have rights and robots do not; humans have biological bodies and robots have metal bodies; humans gain energy from the combustion of hydrocarbons, robots, from atomic energy; humans can discriminate between short-term cruelty and long-term kindness and robots cannot; humans die and robots are immortal. But perhaps the final distinction is Andrew's sentimental and hard-to-rationalize desire to be human when he is so clearly superior to humans in every way. The sentimentality that threatens the story is essential to the argument: robots are
always rational and humans are not. Humans act for emotional reasons, and, ultimately, so does Andrew. Andrew, indeed, has become human.
always rational and humans are not. Humans act for emotional reasons, and, ultimately, so does Andrew. Andrew, indeed, has become human.
Although "That Thou Art Mindful of Him" and "The Bicentennial Man" are fitting conclusions for Asimov's robot chronicles, Asimov wrote seven more robot stories.
"Franchise" (
If,
August 1955) extrapolates the exit-polling processes into the selection, by Multivac, of a single, typical voter whose choices act for everyone.
If,
August 1955) extrapolates the exit-polling processes into the selection, by Multivac, of a single, typical voter whose choices act for everyone.
"Think!" (
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine,
Spring 1977), describes an experiment to create a laser-encephalogram that accidentally results in telepathy. During the experimental demonstration, however, the computer starts communicating telepathically to create a new problem.
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine,
Spring 1977), describes an experiment to create a laser-encephalogram that accidentally results in telepathy. During the experimental demonstration, however, the computer starts communicating telepathically to create a new problem.
"True Love" (
The American Way,
February 1977) deals with an attempt by a man to find the perfect mate. During the process of analyzing first the available women in the world and then himself, the computer becomes more and more like the protagonist, and when the woman is at last identified, the computer arranges for the hero to be arrested for a malfeasance in office and plans to welcome the woman as his own true love.
The American Way,
February 1977) deals with an attempt by a man to find the perfect mate. During the process of analyzing first the available women in the world and then himself, the computer becomes more and more like the protagonist, and when the woman is at last identified, the computer arranges for the hero to be arrested for a malfeasance in office and plans to welcome the woman as his own true love.
"Too Bad!" (
Microverse,
November 1989) describes a process like nanotechnology, or the miniaturization of computers or robots to the size of cells or even molecules. In "Too Bad!," however, the robot is created to be miniaturized and used to seek out and destroy cancer cells in his creator. Sudden expansion, as in Asimov's novelization of
Fantastic Universe,
would kill the patient and the attending doctors and nurses. The process works perfectly but the recovering patient discovers that the robot destroyed itself, by miniaturizing itself to the size of an electron and jetting itself into space to blow up, rather than endanger the life of its creator, something the scientist finds "too bad!''
Microverse,
November 1989) describes a process like nanotechnology, or the miniaturization of computers or robots to the size of cells or even molecules. In "Too Bad!," however, the robot is created to be miniaturized and used to seek out and destroy cancer cells in his creator. Sudden expansion, as in Asimov's novelization of
Fantastic Universe,
would kill the patient and the attending doctors and nurses. The process works perfectly but the recovering patient discovers that the robot destroyed itself, by miniaturizing itself to the size of an electron and jetting itself into space to blow up, rather than endanger the life of its creator, something the scientist finds "too bad!''
"Robot Dreams" was created for the anthology
Robot Dreams
(1986) and is the last Susan Calvin story. A young female computer expert uses fractal geometry to produce an added complexity in the brain of LVX-1 ("Elvex"), but calls upon Calvin when the robot begins to dream. Calvin asks Elvex to describe his dream of robots bowed down with toil; in his dream Elvex remembers only the Third Law, not the first two. All this reveals a previously unsuspected unconscious layer in the robot mind, not necessarily under the control of the Three Laws. When Elvex reveals that a man appears in his dream saying "Let my people go," and the man is himself, Calvin neutralizes his brain with an electron gun.
Robot Dreams
(1986) and is the last Susan Calvin story. A young female computer expert uses fractal geometry to produce an added complexity in the brain of LVX-1 ("Elvex"), but calls upon Calvin when the robot begins to dream. Calvin asks Elvex to describe his dream of robots bowed down with toil; in his dream Elvex remembers only the Third Law, not the first two. All this reveals a previously unsuspected unconscious layer in the robot mind, not necessarily under the control of the Three Laws. When Elvex reveals that a man appears in his dream saying "Let my people go," and the man is himself, Calvin neutralizes his brain with an electron gun.
"Christmas Without Rodney" (
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine,
December, 1988) compares an old-fashioned robot preferred by a grandfather and his wife to the newer model preferred by his son and supercilious wife and nasty grandson. The grandson kicks his grandfather's robot in anger, injuring his foot, and tries to blame it on the robot. His mother wants it destroyed, but the grandfather defends the robot on the basis of the First Law (besides he saw the action himself). But as in "Think!," the story ends with the complication that the grandfather's robot expresses a wish that the Laws didn't exist, something it should be incapable of wishing. The grandfather can't decide whether to report the wish and have the robot destroyed.
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine,
December, 1988) compares an old-fashioned robot preferred by a grandfather and his wife to the newer model preferred by his son and supercilious wife and nasty grandson. The grandson kicks his grandfather's robot in anger, injuring his foot, and tries to blame it on the robot. His mother wants it destroyed, but the grandfather defends the robot on the basis of the First Law (besides he saw the action himself). But as in "Think!," the story ends with the complication that the grandfather's robot expresses a wish that the Laws didn't exist, something it should be incapable of wishing. The grandfather can't decide whether to report the wish and have the robot destroyed.
"Robot Visions" apparently was written for
Robot Visions
(1990), like "Robot Dreams" for its anthology. It deals with Temporalists in 2030 sending a robot 200 years into the future. The robot reports back, almost instantaneously, that it has spent five years in a happy world that has solved all contemporary problems and has no record of any other time traveler arriving from its past. The Temporalists decide to leave well enough alone and experiment no more, but the narrator suspects that the happy future was populated by humaniform robots of which he, the narrator, is the first of that kind.
Robot Visions
(1990), like "Robot Dreams" for its anthology. It deals with Temporalists in 2030 sending a robot 200 years into the future. The robot reports back, almost instantaneously, that it has spent five years in a happy world that has solved all contemporary problems and has no record of any other time traveler arriving from its past. The Temporalists decide to leave well enough alone and experiment no more, but the narrator suspects that the happy future was populated by humaniform robots of which he, the narrator, is the first of that kind.
Asimov's last words about his robots may have been his introduction to
Robot Visions.
In it he listed the 16 robot stories that he considered particularly significant. They were "Robbie," "Reason," "Liar!," "Runaround,'' "Evidence," "Little Lost Robot," "The Evitable Conflict" all from
I, Robot
"Franchise," "The Last Question," "The Feeling of Power," "Feminine Intuition," "The Bicentennial Man,"
The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn,
and
Robots and Empire.
He also mentioned some of the other stories he was fond of but that broke no new ground, among them "Galley Slave," "Lenny," "Someday," "Christmas Without Rodney," "Think!," "Mirror Image," "Too Bad!," and "Segregationist."
Robot Visions.
In it he listed the 16 robot stories that he considered particularly significant. They were "Robbie," "Reason," "Liar!," "Runaround,'' "Evidence," "Little Lost Robot," "The Evitable Conflict" all from
I, Robot
"Franchise," "The Last Question," "The Feeling of Power," "Feminine Intuition," "The Bicentennial Man,"
The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn,
and
Robots and Empire.
He also mentioned some of the other stories he was fond of but that broke no new ground, among them "Galley Slave," "Lenny," "Someday," "Christmas Without Rodney," "Think!," "Mirror Image," "Too Bad!," and "Segregationist."
Two stories in
I, Robot
were omitted from his final two robot collections: "Catch That Rabbit!" and "Escape"; but only two stories from the eight in
The Rest of the Robots
were included: "Lenny" and "Galley Slave." Clearly
I, Robot
still held first place in Asimov's affections, and even a couple of stories from that volume were considered dated or less worthy. Some of those omitted, but not all, were included in
The Complete Robot
published in 1982.
I, Robot
were omitted from his final two robot collections: "Catch That Rabbit!" and "Escape"; but only two stories from the eight in
The Rest of the Robots
were included: "Lenny" and "Galley Slave." Clearly
I, Robot
still held first place in Asimov's affections, and even a couple of stories from that volume were considered dated or less worthy. Some of those omitted, but not all, were included in
The Complete Robot
published in 1982.
In the introduction to
Robot Visions
Asimov also admitted that he liked his robot stories better than his Foundation stories.
Robot Visions
Asimov also admitted that he liked his robot stories better than his Foundation stories.
In the process of writing nearly 40 stories about robots over a period
of fifty years, Asimov let various inconsistencies creep in. This is apparent not simply in the problem of chronology, which has various minor glitches, but in that of incompatibility: if some of the events took place, others could not. Some inconsistencies, such as those in "The Evitable Conflict," Asimov disposed of by declaring in a later story that the Machines phased themselves out when they thought their job was done (in "That Thou Art Mindful of Him"). Others he simply ignored, such as the fact that the Machines and the Multivac of "The Life and Times of Multivac" could not coexist, nor if Multivac was destroyed could it be "The Machine That Won the War" nor the computer that answered ''The Last Question." And if the robots take over some time after the end of "That Thou Art Mindful of Him," some of the subsequent stories would be not only redundant but impossible. In other cases, as in "Lenny," the invention of the teachable robot is made and then forgotten. "Segregationist" suggests the coexistence and even equality of humans and robots; robots are introduced and reintroduced on Earth, as in "Satisfaction Guaranteed," "Galley Slave," "That Thou Art Mindful of Him," and "The Bicentennial Man," as if none of the other attempts had ever led to anything.
of fifty years, Asimov let various inconsistencies creep in. This is apparent not simply in the problem of chronology, which has various minor glitches, but in that of incompatibility: if some of the events took place, others could not. Some inconsistencies, such as those in "The Evitable Conflict," Asimov disposed of by declaring in a later story that the Machines phased themselves out when they thought their job was done (in "That Thou Art Mindful of Him"). Others he simply ignored, such as the fact that the Machines and the Multivac of "The Life and Times of Multivac" could not coexist, nor if Multivac was destroyed could it be "The Machine That Won the War" nor the computer that answered ''The Last Question." And if the robots take over some time after the end of "That Thou Art Mindful of Him," some of the subsequent stories would be not only redundant but impossible. In other cases, as in "Lenny," the invention of the teachable robot is made and then forgotten. "Segregationist" suggests the coexistence and even equality of humans and robots; robots are introduced and reintroduced on Earth, as in "Satisfaction Guaranteed," "Galley Slave," "That Thou Art Mindful of Him," and "The Bicentennial Man," as if none of the other attempts had ever led to anything.
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