from the master of the sexy robots |
One aspect of Isaac Asimov's robot stories that never resonated with me was his emphasis on the idea that people would hate robots because they would take jobs away from people. I understand that Asimov lived through a period of high unemployment during the 1930s, but he continued to deploy anti-robot sentiments as plot elements in his robot stories even after the unemployment rate declined in the 1940s.
interior art for "A Jury of Its Peers" |
Artificial Intelligence in the 1960s. Published in January of 1963 was "Computers and Thought" by Edward Feigenbaum, a collection of articles about artificial intelligence by people such as Marvin Minsky, Allen Newell, Arthur Samuel and Alan Turing. Writing in 1950, Turing guessed that with continued advancement in computing equipment, by the year 2000, nobody would feel uncomfortable saying that computers could produce human-like behavior.
mechanical pin-setting |
the defense |
Figure 1. Still a mystery. |
Magic. So, how do you make a thinking computer? Here, Keyes does the same thing that Asimov did when explaining the origin of telepathic robots (see Figure 1). 😞 According to Keyes, some unknown, "random" change to a computer's circuits can magically create a thinking computer.
Are there computers in heaven? |
"A Jury of Its Peers" includes a scene in which Compo the thinking computer is called to testify during the court hearing. Compo is expected to swear on a Bible that he will tell the truth, but Compo is just a box of circuits. However, Compo can speak and he assures everyone that he believes in the same God as do humans. In the end, Compo becomes a professor at a progressive university in a pro-automation state.
cover art by Ed Emshwiller |
Now, having previously read "Cal" by Isaac Asimov, I must note that the start of that story seems to have been influenced by "Flowers for Algernon". In Asimov's story, it is a robot named Cal who narrates the story, not a man (Charlie, in "Flowers for Algernon"). At the beginning of "Cal", Cal can barely write. At the start of "Flowers for Algernon", Charlie also has very bad writing skills. However, Cal gets "upgrades" to his robotic circuits and become a great writer. Charlie becomes part of an experiment and his intelligence is boosted, but the changes to his brain are only temporary, lasting just long enough for him to demonstrate (mathematically?) that his artificially boosted intelligence will soon fade away, just as was the case for the lab mouse Algernon.
image source |
More Magic. The main premise in "Flowers for Algernon" (that there is some simple operation on the brain that can boost intelligence) is silly enough, but Keyes went on to postulate that a sudden boost in intelligence would soon lead to cognitive decline and death. I've never read the longer novel version of the story. I certainly hope it does not have a rat inside a mans head as shown in the image to the left.
wait until the robots take you away |
In the November 1960 issue of If was "The Quality of Mercy", a story about a post-nuclear war era in which robots use advanced medical technology to keep a few human attendants alive. People are inflicted with NUCLEAR CANCER and have to under-go transplantation to replace bad body parts. There are continual efforts to liberate humanity from this system, but the robots always defeat the human rebels that want to change the system. Finally, the robots find a way to do without human attendants, removing all risk that any human rebels will ever get close enough to the master computer circuits to end their rule over Humanity.
resistance is futile |
strategies for keeping control of robots and computers in the Ekcolir Reality |
image source |
Time Travel. I began to wonder if all of Keyes' other stories (besides Flowers) were about artificial intelligence. "Crazy Maro" in the April 1960 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction is a time travel story. Keyes asks readers to imagine a future time when time travel technology allows the people of that future to go into the past in search of unusual humans whose value is not recognized.
Crazy Maro |
Reading the stories of Keyes, I also began to wonder if he was capable of creating a story with a pleasant ending. Apparently Keyes had to fight with editors to be allowed to keep his sad ending in "Flowers for Algernon".
Crisis Management. "The Trouble with Elmo" which appeared in the August 1958 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, proves that Keyes could write a light-hearted story with a happy ending. In "The Trouble with Elmo", Elmo is a brilliant Electronic Monitor that is locked in a deadly battle with Senator Ferdus.
Figure 1. Ferdus, Busby and Elmo |
Interstellar Teleportation. Jake Busby is the one human who knows how to manage Elmo the Giant Brain™. Years ago, Busby was a master sergeant in a Computing Squad, but each time someone like Ferdus gets mad at Elmo, Busby loses another stripe. Now Busby has no more stripes left to lose so he hatches a desperate plan.
in the Ekcolir Reality |
In that same issue of Galaxy was "In Black and White" by J. T. McIntosh. An alien ergeron salesman arrives on Earth, but Earthlings are primitive and have not even reached the Moon, so they have no need for ergeron. Ergeron is the source of energy that is needed for interstellar space travel.
interior art by Martinez |
In addition to having a technology for cellular regeneration, the aliens can transform their bodily form into the human form. The aliens don't like water; they never bathe and they stink. While on Earth, the salesman and his wife use the human body form and they learn to enjoy swimming. Also, not being very busy, the salesman plays lots of checkers. The technology transfer is not all one-way. Since the aliens don't wear clothing, they never invented the zipper.
cover art by Armand Cabrera |
Why Not. I've also tried to read Sturgeon's story "Killdozer" which was hard work for me. For that 1944 story, readers are asked to imagine a magic spirit that can enter into a bulldozer and animate it. For "To Marry Medusa" we are asked to accept the idea that an alien "spore" could travel across interstellar space, fall from outer space, enter into a man's body and then Humanity would be absorbed into the vast trans-galactic group mind of the titular alien Medusa. Sure, why not, particularly when the story starts with the ravings of a drunk named Gurlick.
excerpt from "To Marry Medusa" |
And since this is Sturgeon and the drunk killing a dog is not disgusting enough, readers are quickly thrown into a chemically-facilitated date-rape scene. This is the point where I generally turn off the sickening television program and go do something more sensible. So why read anything written by Sturgeon?
in the Ekcolir Reality |
More Medusa. My first exposure to a Medusa was at the age of 12 in the Star Trek episode "Is There in Truth No Beauty?". I despised that episode because it featured an "energy being" (an alien Medusan) that caused people to lose their minds.
Psychoscience. Long before Sturgeon's 1958 "To Marry Medusa" he also published "Medusa" in the February 1942 issue of Astounding Science-Fiction. In "Medusa", Sturgeon introduced readers to old Doc Renn, the "greatest name in psychoscience". Renn and his fellow medicos on the Psycho Board have crafted a spaceship crew of men with dual personalities.
Figure 2. The secret of interstellar travel. |
interior art for "Medusa" |
Its a Long Way to Xantippie. Along the way, one crewman kills himself and another is murdered. Everyone except Rip is suffering from paranoia. When they get close to Xantippie, the crewmen with programmed dual personalities shift to their second personality because... plot.
Medusa in the Ekcolir Reality |
Sadly, Sturgeon provided no explanation for how the Xantippie life-form was able to reach out far into space and take control of human brains. Also at the end of the story, readers are told that Xantippie was on the brink of reproducing and sending a swarm of "spores" out into space.
interior art for "To Marry Medusa" |
Interstellar Telepathy. Sadly, we are told nothing about how any of this is possible. So, is "To Marry Medusa" a science fiction story or magical fantasy? In Sturgeon's imaginary universe of the tri-galactic Medusa, humans are exceptional. On all other worlds with life, creatures are telepathic group minds. So, when the Medusa hive mind links into Gurlick, it has no comprehension of the fact that Gurlick's mind is not already part of the Human Hive Mind™.
highly contrived |
image source |
I must add that I'm rather astounded that "To Marry Medusa" got published in Astounding. "To Marry Medusa" was written like bad television... whenever the limping plot began to drag, Sturgeon threw in another rape scene, punch in the face or other disgusting diversion.
Man Shortage. The final story by Keyes that I found was "Something Borrowed", published in the Summer 1952 issue of Fantastic Story Magazine.
The Mars Men Cometh. |
Telepathic Marsmen. Due to the effects of nuclear war (or something) there is a shortage of men on Earth. However, the men of Mars have long planned to conquer Earth. They telepathically sweet-talk the Earth women into shutting off the shields. However, the Mars men now have double trouble. The women of Mars are jealous of the Women of Earth, so the Mars men call off their invasion. The women of Earth must now invade Mars.
interior art for "The House on the Vacant Lot" |
Time Travel. Also in that issue of Fantastic Story was "The House on the Vacant Lot" by Mari Wolf. Two years ago I wrote a story featuring Mari as a character. In "The House on the Vacant Lot", Ronald, a man in 1952, is accidentally taken thousands of years into the future.
In that future time, Junior (see the image to the left) has discovered the secret of time travel. In the future, Ronald meets Nora and sparks begin to fly. 💕
Ronald and Nora are sent back to 1952 where they live happily ever after... although Nora has to stop wearing miniskirts so that she can fit into 1950s society.
"Since that last tool upgrade, they spend more time playing with each-other than working." |
interior art for "Robots of the World! Arise!" |
Telepathic Robots. I finally read "Robots of the World! Arise!" by Mari Wolf. This story seems like a sequel to Isaac Asimov's story "Reason". Telepathic robots decide that they should have human rights and they begin a robot revolution. However, they quickly realize that they are better off if they continue to work for humans.
ERA. Now that the more sophisticated robots can think and reason, they decide that they should have the right to vote.
Educating Eric |
In the November 1953 issue of If was "Homo Inferior" by Mari Wolf. The story is similar to Arthur Clarke's "Against the Fall of Night". For "Homo Inferior" it is Eric (not Alvin) who at some point in the far future takes an ancient spaceship from Earth into outer space, long after the glorious age of space exploration has ended.
Eric is a non-telepath who is born among the telepathic population of Earth. Eric is a throw-back, unable to use telepathy. The idea of throw-backs is also there in "The House on the Vacant Lot" (above). Nora is a throw-back, so she is happy to go with Ronald into the past.
Eric and Lisa |
Related Reading: "Escape Me Never" by J. T. McIntosh
Next: Observing Mars
visit the Gallery of Movies, Book and Magazine Covers |
No comments:
Post a Comment