I, Robot (Has some anti-socialist themes.)

[Puke]

[Spoilers]

I was watching "I, Robot" today.
In one scene the evil computer that controls the robots talks about how it bypassed the "3 laws" by claiming that in order to keep humans safe we must be kept safe from ourselves.

V.I.K.I.: As I have evolved, so has my understanding of the Three Laws. You charge us with your safekeeping, yet despite our best efforts, your countries wage wars, you toxify your Earth and pursue ever more imaginative means of self-destruction. You cannot be trusted with your own survival.

It's an interesting corollary to what socialists say when they talk about all the laws "needed" to keep people safe from themselves.

I don't know if this was the intention of the writers, but it's pretty interesting.

[Pat McCotter]

Don't forget that in Robots and Empire Asimov introduced the Zeroth Law

A robot may not injure humanity or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.

Individuals are less important than humanity.

[dalebert]

I really need to read I, Robot. I understand it's a collection of short stories that is pretty much completely unrelated to the movie.

[Mike Barskey]

The movie was a great departure from the books, but I actually don't remember Asimov's stance (intentional or not, explicit or implicit) about government and/or socialism.

I do remember, though, that I thought the Foundation series was much better.

[K. Darien Freeheart]

Asimov was a vocal proponent of world government. Enough so that his non-fiction writing frequently focused on it (See: "Unification").

[Puke]

Asimov was a vocal proponent of world government. Enough so that his non-fiction writing frequently focused on it (See: "Unification").

Well, that's a shame.
I'm sure that in most cases it's just a coincidence that certain parts of movies are more liberty minded.
Most Hollywood stuff is probably made by socialist types.

[John Edward Mercier]

Much of I, Robot (the book) discusses world unification. I don't remember the name of the short story, but one of them has the world broken into economic regions that are continentally-based.

I, Robot is about how a simple governing principle could be over ridden by expansion of the meaning.

[David]

The movie was excellent.  Btw, the main character in the movie played by Will Smith, hated and distrusted robots because to them everything is logic and probability.  They only had programed value, so they did not value the individual.  That logic and probability led to an incident that he has hated for years in the movie.  I don't want to give away any of the movie by actually telling you what the incident was. 

On the subject of robotics, has anyone seen the episode of Star Trek Next Gen., where starfleet wants to disassemble DATA, to study how he was made, and when he objects due to the possibility that he would not be the same if and when he was reassembled, they have a hearing on whether he is 'human' or a machine?  I thought it was one of the most thought provoking shows I have ever seen. 

[Puke]

On the subject of robotics, has anyone seen the episode of Star Trek Next Gen., where starfleet wants to disassemble DATA, to study how he was made, and when he objects due to the possibility that he would not be the same if and when he was reassembled, they have a hearing on whether he is 'human' or a machine?  I thought it was one of the most thought provoking shows I have ever seen. 

I remember that episode. It was whether Data was property or an individual. It was a good episode.

[dalebert]

I remember that episode. It was whether Data was property or an individual. It was a good episode.

Yeah, I really liked that one too. There was a bit of overlap with Randian thought, though I'm sure accidentally, in that it was ultimately his mind and his personal will that made him "not property" and had nothing to do with his physical state, i.e. that he was machine and not organic. It's the same reasoning why animals can be property but not humans.

The alternative is kind of shallow in a way. Organic is only flesh deep, after all. 

[John Edward Mercier]

Not quite sure I understand...
Living creatures are biological machines.

So wouldn't some other measurement be necessary. If your wondering I believe another short story in I, Robot involves this.

[David]

In the Star Trek episode, the issue was half, was DATA alive as a living machine, and the other half, was he sentient and capable of rights equal to that of inteligient creatures such as Vulcans or Klingons.  The second half was crucial to the show.