#17 "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov

The date May 19, 1999. Roughly 7 months before the presumed Y2K epidemic. I am waiting in a long line with a few coworker friends periodically checking our watches (YES this is how we USED to tell time), the time ticking away slowly as if I were waiting for the bell to sound during 7th period in high school announcing that it's time to go home. There is excited sounds of commotion that hovers around me like a swarm of bees. Everyone around me seems to be antsy as well. We all have been waiting for this day for almost 8 months since the announcement. As I scan along the roped off line there are many people wearing brown cloaks, rugby polo shirts, and an assortment of graphic tee shirts. A couple of people, not sure if men or women, had painted faces carrying florescent sticks. The few women interspersed throughout definitely improved the appearance and, yes, the smell of the multitude. Did you guess where I was? No, I wasn't going to a rave, close, but at the movie theater getting ready to watch "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" opening day.

A movie like "Star Wars" has appealed to all types of people and over many generations, however taking pleasure in a few Scifi films such as "Stars Wars", "Star Trek", and "Aliens" makes someone a science fiction nerd fan as much as liking Nine Inch Nails, and KMFDM, dying the hair black, wearing a Korn Shirt, dating a sexually confused chick, whose hangout is at "freak" dance clubs/gay bar, makes one a goth. At least that is what I was told by a few of her more seasoned goth friends. Seems that societies "outcasts" are an exclusive bunch. Isn't that special?

When choosing "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov I was hoping to rebound from my not so enjoyable experience reading my first scifi novel, "2001: A Space Odyssey". Asimov, the godfather of science fiction, wrote hundreds of books based on this subject and was Vice President of Mensa International at one point during his membership there according to "I Asimov, A Memoir". He's SMART. I'm Joey Tribbiani  brainy from "Friends" compared to him, but that is a moo point. You know it's like a cows opinion, it doesn't matter. It's Moo! My wife and I, however, enjoyed that Will Smith movie with the same name and I do rather enjoy a good futuristic tale so have at it.

I will start by saying to those who might read "I, Robot" that besides a few of the same characters(Dr. Lanning, Susan Calvin, the robots) the book and movie are like angus beef burger and Boca burger to each other.

 "I, Robot" the novel.
The year is 2057 and the advancement of robot technology has created a world where robot machines exist together with humans inharmoniously. The ability of the robot to mimic every movement besides facial expression and the installation of a positronic brain(giving the robots the ability for critical thinking) had to be balanced with the 3 Laws of Robotics:
1. A robot may not harm a human, or , through inaction, allow a human to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by humans except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect it's own existence as long as it doesn't conflict with the first 2 Laws.
The Laws programmed into this positronic brain prevented the robots from overpowering the humans with their superior intellect and physicality.

The novel is a collection of 9 quizzical stories explained in an interview by Susan Calvin on how these 3 Laws have been applied throughout the technological advancements of Robotics. 7 out of the 9 stories required humans to investigate the actions of their robot counterparts to get make sense of their dire dilemmas. Each story and each chapter brought in a unique robot with it's puzzling situation requiring the robopsychologists(Susan Calvin) help. One robot's a mind reader that aims to tell each person it comes into contact with what they want to hear to make them happy. Another robot was ordered to get lost by a frustrated human which it did but its first law was slightly manipulated for the purposes of the government(what a surprise) so it became an expensive liability. Here's a funny one. A robot who didn't believe humans created him, instead believing this mainframe machine was his master bringing a consequence to the first law of robotics. Robots' logic states that it's not probable that a inferior life form can create something superior to themselves.

I had some fun reading this science fiction novel but I had to make sure to have take aspirin
beforehand due to the amount of make believe technical terms used by the author. I had to keep reminding myself to just follow the story but I had to look up others thoughts on some peculiar sentences. It drove me nuts sometimes. I have ADHD and I just learned that we read differently then normal readers in the fact we read word, word, word, and not whole sentences with fluidity. How easier my goal would be if I tackled books that way. If only there were a CCKV(community college kids version) or NDDV(new dumbed down version) I would have enjoyed it much more.