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Asimov, particularly in his "Robot" and "Foundation" series, famously had a rather up-beat outlook on the future and technology's role in it.
by jballanc 12y ago
Asimov, particularly in his "Robot" and "Foundation" series, famously had a rather up-beat outlook on the future and technology's role in it.
- lmm 12y agoFoundation takes as its background setting the inevitable collapse of civilization. Many of the Robot stories feature accidents or murders, at least one is set on a very dystopian world (solaris? where people live one-to-an-acre and can't bear to be in the same room as another human), and the ultimate conclusion is a robot deliberately irradiating Earth and killing 90% of its population (because it's the only way to get humanity to spread among the stars).
- jballanc 12y agoYes, but unlike many other futurist novels, I've always enjoyed the way that the resolution of so many of Asimov's stories are inclusive of technology. I guess another way to say it is that many authors treat technology as somehow inherently evil. Asimov, on the other hand, treats technology as technology. That's not to say there are never mishaps or tragic consequences, but it's usually the result of human actions. The technology in his stories does not exert a malevolent force of its own. Some humans are good, some are bad, but technology doesn't change that.