While talking about robots, the first thing came up to me is Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. It gives me the initial impression on "what" is a robot. In detail, the Three Laws are:
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, though inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
2. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
When I first read about Asimov's books and the Three Laws, I thought it was talking about the robots. But when I grew older and read them again, instead, I found that they were more like metaphors for human beings. For example, the Three Laws used to be considered as a rough definition of robotics while it actually discusses the relationship between robots and human beings. In other words, apart from limiting the range of robotics, it also defines what is a "man". From the Laws, a "man" is the one who does not have to obey the Three Laws and behave like a "robots". In a way, the creation of the robot is very similar to the monster. While the existence of the monster partly represents the dark inside of human beings, the creation of the robot, in my opinion, indicates the fears or anxieties to the progress in science and technology. The robot is like a mirroring of human beings, which means it may look exactly the same as a man, but they are completely different inside. For instance, roughly saying, robot is non-emotional and acts under specific rules and principles. However, for human beings, one of the most differences between a man and a robot is that we have emotions. Furthermore, we have our own ways to express our feelings and different emotions will probably influence our actions. Also, freedom is one of human beings' basic rights, in other words, we are free to do anything we want. Even though some of them are not right and prohibited by laws and conventions, we still have freedom to do so if we are willing to take the results of them. But for robots, their actions are already fixed. Generally, nothing will change their minds because they will never think about what they are to do. In this way, it is obvious that the robot has the features of our progressive technology. Similar to the science and technology we are using today (smart phones, video games, cleaning robots, etc.), robot is a kind of replacement of us human beings. It helps us out in our daily lives and never complains about what they are doing. They are born to work and assist us in many aspects and only responds to what we ask them to do. It discourages our capacity of doings things ourselves like in the old days. I cannot simply include them all, but I believe a large part of the robot stories are used as worries and warnings of this kind of phenomenon. Even if we have not invent a real "robot" described in those novels, the progressive science and technology are changing our ways of living now and the worries asserted in the robot "future history" are coming true.
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, though inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
2. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
When I first read about Asimov's books and the Three Laws, I thought it was talking about the robots. But when I grew older and read them again, instead, I found that they were more like metaphors for human beings. For example, the Three Laws used to be considered as a rough definition of robotics while it actually discusses the relationship between robots and human beings. In other words, apart from limiting the range of robotics, it also defines what is a "man". From the Laws, a "man" is the one who does not have to obey the Three Laws and behave like a "robots". In a way, the creation of the robot is very similar to the monster. While the existence of the monster partly represents the dark inside of human beings, the creation of the robot, in my opinion, indicates the fears or anxieties to the progress in science and technology. The robot is like a mirroring of human beings, which means it may look exactly the same as a man, but they are completely different inside. For instance, roughly saying, robot is non-emotional and acts under specific rules and principles. However, for human beings, one of the most differences between a man and a robot is that we have emotions. Furthermore, we have our own ways to express our feelings and different emotions will probably influence our actions. Also, freedom is one of human beings' basic rights, in other words, we are free to do anything we want. Even though some of them are not right and prohibited by laws and conventions, we still have freedom to do so if we are willing to take the results of them. But for robots, their actions are already fixed. Generally, nothing will change their minds because they will never think about what they are to do. In this way, it is obvious that the robot has the features of our progressive technology. Similar to the science and technology we are using today (smart phones, video games, cleaning robots, etc.), robot is a kind of replacement of us human beings. It helps us out in our daily lives and never complains about what they are doing. They are born to work and assist us in many aspects and only responds to what we ask them to do. It discourages our capacity of doings things ourselves like in the old days. I cannot simply include them all, but I believe a large part of the robot stories are used as worries and warnings of this kind of phenomenon. Even if we have not invent a real "robot" described in those novels, the progressive science and technology are changing our ways of living now and the worries asserted in the robot "future history" are coming true.
Great thoughts on Asimov's 3 laws!
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