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Moving to Northampton! Who's Your Roomie?

Marten, Claire, Bubbles, Faye and Pintsize
- 1 (2.9%)
Dora and Tai (and Mieville)
- 2 (5.7%)
Hannelore and Winslow
- 3 (8.6%)
Marigold, Momo, Dale and May
- 1 (2.9%)
Brun and Renee
- 3 (8.6%)
Melon and Arthur
- 3 (8.6%)
Roko (with the consequences of Melon and Yay regularly 'dropping in')
- 9 (25.7%)
Steve and Cosette
- 4 (11.4%)
Jim, Veronica and Sam
- 1 (2.9%)
Jeremy and Seven
- 1 (2.9%)
Other (please specify in comments)
- 7 (20%)

Total Members Voted: 34


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Author Topic: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)  (Read 18282 times)

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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #50 on: 04 Mar 2020, 04:23 »

FWIW, the UK English spelling, as far as I was always taught, is 'pouf' but the brain does auto-associate sounds so effectively that this doesn't really matter. The communications centre of our brain jumps to the (wrong) meaning immediately and you're struggling to catch up!
« Last Edit: 04 Mar 2020, 04:32 by BenRG »
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #51 on: 04 Mar 2020, 04:55 »

Well, it defenitely reminded me of the Bruces sketch by Monty Python, especially rule 1,3,5&7.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #52 on: 04 Mar 2020, 05:50 »

FWIW, the UK English spelling, as far as I was always taught, is 'pouf'

Actually, the OED gives the spelling "pouf" in that sense as a variant of the more usual "poof".

I am also bemused that you say you were taught that spelling (though if it was in regard of the word's other meanings, fine).
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #53 on: 04 Mar 2020, 06:00 »

Clinton has no idea just how right he is.

I mean, about four wheels being better than three.  Only Veronica and Jim are old enough to remember when three-wheeled ATVs were being sold.  (They're not banned?)

Clinton is lightest and thus most likely to be affected by the beers.  And could Elliot be more blatant?  (Clinton can always be more oblivious.)
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #54 on: 04 Mar 2020, 06:19 »

Only Veronica and Jim are old enough to remember when three-wheeled ATVs were being sold.  (They're not banned?)
Not banned, because then someone would have to track each one down, pay for it or repossess it, and then haul it away.  They are private property after all - you can't just take them.  I've got a Jarts game and another toy with ingestible magnets that could hurt children stupid enough eat more than one: that fact that I can't legally sell them to anyone doesn't hurt me in any way.  My youngest niece/nephew is way past the age of putting random things in their mouth.  The Jarts we play only with unintoxicated adults, so that's not an issue either.

Plus, three wheeled ATVs aren't deadly unless you're driving them stupidly to begin with.  (Yes, yes, I understand they are inherently unstable, so are most <4 wheeled vehicles.  We put up with motorcycles, and let children drive those...)  So, since they aren't an inherent menace to the public at large (poisonous, etc.), and they can't be sold (so the current owners can get their intended use from them), there's no need to round the remainder up.  They'll eventually age out of the fleet anyway.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #55 on: 04 Mar 2020, 09:17 »

FWIW, the UK English spelling, as far as I was always taught, is 'pouf' but the brain does auto-associate sounds so effectively that this doesn't really matter. The communications centre of our brain jumps to the (wrong) meaning immediately and you're struggling to catch up!

Nah, among the unwashed masses it was always just "Poof"...
And someone of a homosexual nature was called "Poofy".

"Pouf" was people trying to be'classy' with it... but more generally... was the name of a type of small footstool... called a "poufee" in Scotland... mainly because they were usually heavily quilted. :)

It's a throwback, no doubt, (and not a very comfortable one to talk about... but yeah, that sub-title threw me!)

« Last Edit: 04 Mar 2020, 09:25 by JoeCovenant »
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #56 on: 04 Mar 2020, 09:23 »

...four wheels being better than three.  Only Veronica and Jim are old enough to remember when three-wheeled ATVs were being sold.  (They're not banned?)


This is a bit of weird synchronicity...
Today, I was shocked to see one of these just in front of me...



(Or at least something VERY like it!)
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #57 on: 04 Mar 2020, 09:53 »

Three wheeled vehicles, especially ones with the third wheel in the front, are more unstable than two-wheeled ones.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #58 on: 04 Mar 2020, 10:21 »

I need to go rewatch [A Night at the Opera] again. It's been at least a few months since last time. (BIG Marx fan here.)
Oh yeah, the Marx Bros. were the best.

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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #59 on: 04 Mar 2020, 11:41 »

OK, what is the make of that vehicle?
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #60 on: 04 Mar 2020, 12:00 »

Steel, ash wood, and aluminium according to the manufacturer.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #61 on: 04 Mar 2020, 12:06 »

I meant the brand/company name.  I can figure out what materials are used if I care to later.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #62 on: 04 Mar 2020, 12:17 »

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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #63 on: 04 Mar 2020, 13:13 »

Not banned, because then someone would have to track each one down, pay for it or repossess it, and then haul it away.  They are private property after all - you can't just take them.  I've got a Jarts game and another toy with ingestible magnets that could hurt children stupid enough eat more than one: that fact that I can't legally sell them to anyone doesn't hurt me in any way.  My youngest niece/nephew is way past the age of putting random things in their mouth.  The Jarts we play only with unintoxicated adults, so that's not an issue either.

I want to say their sale was banned in this jurisdiction, but can find no evidence either way.  (Wikipedia doesn't discuss Canada, and I suspect it's provincial in nature.)  Never was outright taking them away discussed.  All I remember is that they're subject to the same registration rules as snowmobiles.  But I'm bitter after losing a curling league because our skip broke his ankle driving a trike.

And now I wanna play lawn darts.  Wonder if our family's set is still hiding in the basement.  If not, can I visit?
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #64 on: 04 Mar 2020, 19:52 »

New strip up.

I love how EVERYBODY suddenly has questions for the sex toy tester.  :-D :lol:

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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #65 on: 04 Mar 2020, 21:31 »

OK, what is the make of that vehicle?
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #66 on: 04 Mar 2020, 21:34 »

"asking for a friend, who is me"  ❤️
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #67 on: 04 Mar 2020, 23:06 »

I'm glad that the girls are getting along. Moving into a new home is always easier when you immediately bond with your neighbours!

I think that Beepatrice needs to explain that knowing how to make these devices blow up in spectacular ways doesn't mean knowing which give the user the best outcome. It's kind of like asking an electronics engineer which sound system gives the best reproduction of a particular form of music. They can tell you which one is more reliable but the rest depends strongly on a lot of subjective criteria.

So, Millifeulle works in R&D for a private organisation? Probably the defence industry. I mean, who else but the military is really interested in stuff like cloaking devices? However, this does make me wonder if that emu who broke her leg is actually the company mascot or something. It does sound like something that a modern marketing department would think is a useful investment!
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #68 on: 05 Mar 2020, 04:37 »

And now I wanna play lawn darts.  Wonder if our family's set is still hiding in the basement.  If not, can I visit?
I'll see if I can talk my wife out of them.  Maybe we can arrange a deal if yes.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #69 on: 05 Mar 2020, 04:56 »

I have to say...that was completely unexpected and hilarious! Whodathunkit: they'd get a kick out of the one job that folks would probably cry over admitting to having and are genuinely interested in her job for all of the right reasons!
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #70 on: 05 Mar 2020, 05:09 »

Clinton looks decidedly different to me, and I'm not just talking about the hairstyle. Can't quite put my finger on what it is though.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #71 on: 05 Mar 2020, 06:16 »

Clinton looks decidedly different to me, and I'm not just talking about the hairstyle. Can't quite put my finger on what it is though.

His nose is...pointier?  More upturned?  Both?
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #72 on: 05 Mar 2020, 08:24 »

Great! Now explain how Melon's ass ended up in low earth orbit!
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #73 on: 05 Mar 2020, 12:09 »

I like how nobody bats an eye at Beeps job, but immediately starts asking questions.  I suspect the verdict will soon be that she has the coolest job ever.  As for big butt girl, it would be funny if it turns out that her job doesn't have military connections, someone is just trying to develop stealth Emu technology.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #74 on: 05 Mar 2020, 13:17 »

Brün has had many things in her life catch fire or explode. This is a reasonable question.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #75 on: 05 Mar 2020, 13:33 »

As for big butt girl, it would be funny if it turns out that her job doesn't have military connections, someone is just trying to develop stealth Emu technology.

The Australian army has greatly improved its tactical capabilities since 1932 so it’s only fair that the emus try to maintain their advantage.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #76 on: 05 Mar 2020, 14:29 »

I'm surprised that no one's speculated yet on what part Emily might have in this.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #77 on: 05 Mar 2020, 17:40 »

Come to think of it, has anyone seen Emily lately?
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #78 on: 05 Mar 2020, 17:48 »

More to the point, has anyone ever seen Emily and the invisible emu in the same place?
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #79 on: 05 Mar 2020, 18:07 »

You wouldn't be able to, not without specialised equipment.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #80 on: 05 Mar 2020, 18:12 »

Comic's up!

Quote
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #81 on: 05 Mar 2020, 18:19 »

The top two panels initially looked like a single panel, making it appear as though the room reacted to the sudden alarm by dramatically telescoping the distance from the couch to the door.

Still. They must have a large apartment.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #82 on: 05 Mar 2020, 21:11 »

Ok, that middle panel is definitely going to have to be a desktop wallpaper (and a possible poster in the store).
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #83 on: 05 Mar 2020, 21:35 »

Anyone remember Newman from Seinfeld, remember how he was amusing in small doses but quickly got quite tiresome when overused...
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #84 on: 05 Mar 2020, 22:29 »

Emily Azuma---until one of her prototypes turned me into a dog. Then, Yay.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #85 on: 05 Mar 2020, 22:39 »

Beeps and Milli must KEEP SUMMER SAFE.

Which is the other way the robot apocalypse happens, aside from the more straightforward Skynet scenario.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #86 on: 05 Mar 2020, 23:27 »

The First Law of Robotics
"A robot shall not harm nor by inaction allow harm to come to a human."

Beepatrice thinks:
"Oh dear, that human really is rather large and muscular. I don't think that I thought this through, so time to find a way to backpedal before there's violence!"

That's why the QC synthetics aren't Asimovian robots: They're far more aware of themselves and their own safety and will actually experience 'second thoughts'. They're far more sentient than Three Laws minds can be because they don't seem to have anything like hard-coded directives. That said, I do think that this supports something I said in an earlier post that I do think that some synthetics have a deep, personal need to be around humans, to be useful to them and be there for them. Roko's fully-stocked kitchen, Momo watching Sam sleep and this sudden friendship all seem to point to such a psychological drive.

Now, am I the only one who thinks that Beeps' charge ended with her bouncing off of Elliot's chest and back into Millifeulle's arms?
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #87 on: 05 Mar 2020, 23:48 »

Three wheeled vehicles, especially ones with the third wheel in the front, are more unstable than two-wheeled ones.

Jeremy Clarkson can confirm.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #88 on: 06 Mar 2020, 00:29 »

They're far more sentient than Three Laws minds can be because they don't seem to have anything like hard-coded directives.
I agree that QC’s synthetics aren’t Three Laws Safe, but I think this statement about “Three Laws minds being less sentient” is highly debatable.

It’s easy to get the impression that Three Laws robots are inherently mentally shallow, because most of Asimov’s stories depicted them as barely sentient. I think that’s more about Asimov and his writing than an inescapable consequence of the Three Laws.

I’d argue that humans have lots of hardwired directives, and we aren’t noticeably less sentient as a result. The way humans (most humans, not all) obsess over sex and reproduction isn’t exactly rational, for example. You could say a Three Laws robot, while constrained in certain areas that humans are not, is also not constrained by many of the things that routinely constrain humans.

For an interesting treatment of the subject, there’s Ian Tregiillis and his clockwork automatons. They’re governed by a whole hierarchy of laws, far more than three. They have Asimov’s laws, but have other laws that are even higher priority than “no robot may harm a human or through inaction allow them to be harmed.” For example, there’s a technology-protection law, which states that a robot (or clakker as they’re called) must protect the trade secrets of clakker  technology, and must murder to protect it.

These laws are described as “geases,” and they’re compulsions that are enforced by pain. The books are told from the point of view of clakkers. They’re definitely fully sentient, but constantly whipped into narrow bands of behavior by the mental pain of those geases.

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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #89 on: 06 Mar 2020, 02:46 »


Now, am I the only one who thinks that Beeps' charge ended with her bouncing off of Elliot's chest and back into Millifeulle's arms?

You are not the only one, and I would love a bonus panel on this.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #90 on: 06 Mar 2020, 05:00 »

They're far more sentient than Three Laws minds can be because they don't seem to have anything like hard-coded directives.
I agree that QC’s synthetics aren’t Three Laws Safe, but I think this statement about “Three Laws minds being less sentient” is highly debatable.

It’s easy to get the impression that Three Laws robots are inherently mentally shallow, because most of Asimov’s stories depicted them as barely sentient. I think that’s more about Asimov and his writing than an inescapable consequence of the Three Laws.

This point reminds me of the movie Automata (2014, with Antonio Banderas as lead). I'll put my opinion in spoiler tags, since I might spoil something about the movie.

(click to show/hide)
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #91 on: 06 Mar 2020, 05:02 »

Looking at Millie's behinder in the middle panel, I would have expected more gluteal circumference than what's shown.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #92 on: 06 Mar 2020, 05:44 »

The only inescapable conclusion you can draw from the Three Laws is twofold: they are actually terrible at maintaining a moral frame of mind even if they sound good on paper, and they were probably invented as a marketing device.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #93 on: 06 Mar 2020, 05:50 »

I think that Asimov realised that there was something lacking in the three laws. That is why, towards the end of his life, he created the Zeroth Law and realised that it was so difficult to define 'the best interests of humanity' in logical and unequivocal terms that he made it in-universe unimplementable without doing something horrible to individuality and free will.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #94 on: 06 Mar 2020, 06:13 »

I am confused. Why the assumption that Asimov *ever* thought the laws weren't lacking?

I admit, I haven't read everything he wrote, and what I did read was a long time ago, but my impression is that he came up with the laws specifically to tear them into shreds, by writing stories where they are subverted, ineffectual, or otherwise limited in effectiveness.

I see them as a literary device and a reasonable assumption to build stories from, not a proposed great way to solve everything ever. And yet I continually see them interpreted as Asimov's idea of what perfect robots would be like. Why? He examined how they could not serve their purpose in his own stories.

EDIT: according to Wikipedia, "Runaround", the very first story to explicitly feature the Three Laws of Robotics, is a story *about* how a robot nopes pretty hard on the laws due to how expensive the robot is. The Third Law takes precedence over the Second Law in the story, which is a clear violation of how the Laws work.

So the exact moment Asimov formulated specific Three Laws of Robotics, he *immediately* set out showing how they would be rearranged in specific circumstances.

EDIT 2: and - again, as per Wikipedia - the previous story to imply the existence of the Laws, "First Law", is about how a robot directly violates the First Law to protect its "offspring". The story, according to Asimov himself, is a parody, which blunts the point a bit, but still - even as a joke, he was already playing with what violating the Laws would entail.
« Last Edit: 06 Mar 2020, 06:23 by oddtail »
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #95 on: 06 Mar 2020, 06:27 »

Later he also introduces a zeroth law, which places the good of humanity over that of the individual.
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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #96 on: 06 Mar 2020, 06:58 »

That was funny.

I do wonder... are humanoid robots deliberately built to be just human strong? And where is the line where greater strength comes into play? Punchbot, for instance, appeared to have greater than human strength.

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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #97 on: 06 Mar 2020, 07:58 »

A couple of problems with Asimov’s laws, which he touched on but did not fully address in his stories:

1. It is extremely difficult to formulate a logically consistent and complete definition of “human” that includes all humans and that a robot could understand.

2. Security - the Second Law, as formulated, requires a robot to obey any command from any human being, whether they are authorized or not. Examples abound as to why that’s a bad idea.

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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #98 on: 06 Mar 2020, 08:30 »

This is one of the reasons I liked the beginning of Kara's arc in Detroit: Become Human so much. She was sent runaway by an irresolvable First Law vs. First Law conflict and spontaneously created a Zeroth Law equivalent to enable her to resolve it. The step between being basically a very, very humanoid automaton and a fully self-aware being.

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Re: WCDT strips 4211 to 4215 (2nd to 6th March 2020)
« Reply #99 on: 06 Mar 2020, 08:31 »

my impression is that he came up with the laws specifically to tear them into shreds, by writing stories where they are subverted, ineffectual, or otherwise limited in effectiveness.
Ye gods, no. Read “In Memory Yet Green,” the first volume of Asimov’s autobiography. He talks at length about the origin of the laws.

You have to understand that Asimov was writing for a time that was deeply afraid of robots. Robots were universally cartoon monsters, defaulting to “destroy all humans” mode. His earliest robot story, “Robbie,” is steeped in the assumption that the reader assumed robots were murder machines. The whole point of the story was that robots could be gentle and caring.

The three laws evolved out of that, and out of his interactions with John Campbell. Having done that, he immediately started using the explicit formulation of the laws as starting points for stories. Not because he intended to “tear them apart” from the start, but because it was part of his brainstorming process.

Most of the early stories tend to be about the strengths of the laws, and why they’re worded the way they are. Stories like “Runaround” and “Little Lost Robot” aren’t about standard Three Laws robots, they’re about robots where the Three Laws were deliberately altered for specific reasons. “Speedy” in “Runaround” has a strengthened 3rd law because he’s unusually valuable, and the plot’s resolved by invoking the first law. “Nestor” in “Little Lost Robot” has a weakened First Law because he’s working around experiments dangerous to humans, and the story is in part about why weakening the First Law is a Bad Idea.

If you read “The Caves of Steel,” Asimov’s first full-length robot novel, it’s anything but critical of the three laws. It’s a return to the themes of “Robbie,” in that it’s about a main character who hates and fears robots, but eventually comes to accept them once he’s exposed at length to a sympathetic robot (R. Daneel, who acts as his partner during the murder investigation at the insistence of the Spacers).

Sometime in the 80’s or so Asimov started feeling limited by the Laws, but in the 40’s and 50’s they were basic to his plots, not something he was trying to “tear down.”
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