Robot beacon story?

Sherm Pendley wrote:

> Dave S <davidsteinhoff.DeleteThis@comcast.net> writes:
>
>> I can't remember or find a story that Asimov wrote where robots on
>> a
>> remote space station were there to keep a communications beacon
>> focused on distant Earth. The humans eventually died off and the
>> robots grew sentient and came to worship the beacon as their
>> pipeline to the deity.
>
> Sounds a bit like "Reason", one of the short stories in "I, Robot".

But the details are a bit off. In "Reason", the robot worships Earth
as the home of more prefect robots (*not* anything as imperfect as
humans), which causes him to do his job perfectly. After some initial
consternation, the humans decide that the robot's delusion has a
positive effect, so there's no need to try to dispell it.
 >> Stay informed about: Robot beacon story? 

On Sep 1, 11:26 pm, Tim Bruening <tsbru... DeleteThis @pop.dcn.davis.ca.us> wrote:
> Sherm Pendley wrote:

> > There's also a subtext of tolerance. In the end, the robot is left to
> > believe as it will, because its superstition doesn't affect its job
> > performance and doesn't harm any humans.
>
> Powell says that Cutie refused to obey him and Donovan because Cutie
> knew that he could keep the energy beam to Earth more stable than any
> human could, so the First Law (no harm to humans) compelled Cutie to
> take control of the energy beam. However, Cutie doesn't believe that there
> are any humans at the other end of the energy beam, so why would the
> First Law even apply?

I'm not sure of the details of that story in that area, but my
understanding was that they did not remove QT because the effort
required would have potentially created a disruption in the energy
beam, not that they were content that Earth was safe in the hands of
an irrational robot.

The thing to do, obviously, would be to later send up a replacement
robot which was suitably briefed on QT's malfunction, and which would
humor QT in order to take control peacefully.

John Savard
 >> Stay informed about: Robot beacon story? 

ncwaite RemoveThis @hotmail.com wrote:

> Westprog wrote:
> > <ncwaite RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:1153983669.081162.263060@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
> > >
> > > Tim Bruening wrote:
> > > > Michael Stemper wrote:
> > ...
> > > > Yes, Powell said that the First Law was the reason why QT seized control
> > of the
> > > > energy beam, knowing that he (QT) could keep the beam more steady than
> > any human
> > > > could. However, since QT didn't believe that there were any humans at
> > the other
> > > > end, I believed that the First Law should not have influenced QT in the
> > energy
> > > > beam matter.
> >
> > > Just because Powell said something, it doesn't mean that he was
> > > correct. At the time he was relieved that millions of people hadn't
> > > been killed by the beam being mis-directed (and at a personal level he
> > > wouldn't be convicted of mass man-slaughter), so he probably wasn't
> > > thinking at his most rational at the time.
> >
> > The form of the Robot stories was problem-resolution-explanation. I don't
> > think Asimov was in the business of providing unreliable explanations.
> >
>
> He did in "Nightfall". The explanation for the madness that overcame
> civilisation was given by the psychologist character as being a
> reaction to the coming of the darkness, in spite of the observational
> evidence that this only affected ten percent of the population. The
> real explanation was the appearance of the magnificent night sky that
> was revealed by the eclipse.

If the Nightfall planet's people ever make it into space, they will have
severe
difficulties due to being able to see all those stars with no atmosphere
to block
them out by distributing the glare of the six suns.

They might reach space someday. In the expanded version of Nightfall, a
religious
cult was able to restore order after the eclipse and start rebuilding
civilization.
 >> Stay informed about: Robot beacon story? 

Michael Stemper wrote:

> [note massive cross-posts]
> In article <44C71D79.213063BE RemoveThis @pop.dcn.davis.ca.us>, Tim Bruening writes:
> >Sherm Pendley wrote:
>
> >> Sounds a bit like "Reason", one of the short stories in "I, Robot".
>
> >> Actually, no. It's a discussion of the merits of reason alone (hence
> >> the title) vs. the scientific method. It points out a flaw in the
> >> former by showing how blind belief in an untested hypothesis can lead
> >> to irrational behavior.
> >>
> >> There's also a subtext of tolerance. In the end, the robot is left to
> >> believe as it will, because its superstition doesn't affect its job
> >> performance and doesn't harm any humans.
> >
> >Powell says that Cutie refused to obey him and Donovan because Cutie knew
> >that he could keep the energy beam to Earth more stable than any human
> >could, so the First Law (no harm to humans) compelled Cutie to take control
> >of the energy beam.
>
> Did Powell say that? That's not how I remember it. As I remember it, QT
> was keeping the beam perfectly steady because he believed that it was his
> divine mission to so do.
>
> Humans were the reason that Powell and Donovan were worried about QT,
> not the reason that QT did his job properly.

Yes, Powell said that the First Law was the reason why QT seized control
of the
energy beam, knowing that he (QT) could keep the beam more steady than
any human
could. However, since QT didn't believe that there were any humans at
the other
end, I believed that the First Law should not have influenced QT in the
energy
beam matter.
 >> Stay informed about: Robot beacon story? 

Sherm Pendley wrote:

> Dave S <davidsteinhoff.RemoveThis@comcast.net> writes:
>
> > I can't remember or find a story that Asimov wrote where robots on a
> > remote space station were there to keep a communications beacon
> > focused on distant Earth. The humans eventually died off and the
> > robots grew sentient and came to worship the beacon as their pipeline
> > to the deity.
>
> Sounds a bit like "Reason", one of the short stories in "I, Robot".

Or it might be part of the "Robot City" series.

> > It's a cute story about how faith becomes the
> > explanation for innate character elements.
>
> Actually, no. It's a discussion of the merits of reason alone (hence
> the title) vs. the scientific method. It points out a flaw in the
> former by showing how blind belief in an untested hypothesis can lead
> to irrational behavior.
>
> There's also a subtext of tolerance. In the end, the robot is left to
> believe as it will, because its superstition doesn't affect its job
> performance and doesn't harm any humans.

Powell says that Cutie refused to obey him and Donovan because Cutie
knew
that he could keep the energy beam to Earth more stable than any human
could, so the First Law (no harm to humans) compelled Cutie to take
control
of the energy beam. However, Cutie doesn't believe that there are any
humans at the other end of the energy beam, so why would the First Law
even
apply?
 >> Stay informed about: Robot beacon story?