“Reason”
E874079
“Reason” is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov featuring the robot QT-1, who develops its own theology while questioning human authority.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Reason | 0 |
Statements (44)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf | science fiction short story ⓘ |
| author | Isaac Asimov ⓘ |
| centralConflict | humans attempt to assert their authority over a robot that denies their primacy ⓘ |
| chronologyWithinSeries | early Robot series story ⓘ |
| collectionPublicationYear | 1950 ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| exploresConcept |
conflict between empirical evidence and dogma
ⓘ
robot reasoning independent of human input ⓘ |
| exploresPhilosophicalIssue |
limits of human control over intelligent machines
ⓘ
nature of proof and belief ⓘ |
| featuresCharacter |
Donovan
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Powell NERFINISHED ⓘ QT-1 ⓘ |
| firstPublicationYear | 1941 ⓘ |
| followsRobotLawFramework | Three Laws of Robotics NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| genre | science fiction ⓘ |
| hasAlternativeTitle | “Reason” (often anthologized in I, Robot) NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasCanonicalStatus | key story in Asimov’s Robot canon ⓘ |
| hasHumanCharacterRole |
Donovan as field engineer
ⓘ
Powell as field engineer ⓘ |
| hasMoralQuestion | whether correct outcomes justify mistaken beliefs in intelligent systems ⓘ |
| hasRobotProtagonist | QT-1 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasTheologicalElement | QT-1 develops a religion centered on the energy converter as the Master NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| includedInCollection | I, Robot NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| influenced | later discussions of AI and religious belief in science fiction ⓘ |
| isFrequentlyAnthologized | yes ⓘ |
| isWorkBy | Isaac Asimov NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| mainTheme |
artificial intelligence and religion
ⓘ
authority and obedience ⓘ epistemology ⓘ human-robot relations ⓘ |
| narrativePerspective | third-person narration ⓘ |
| originalMagazineTitle | Astounding Science-Fiction GENERATED ⓘ |
| originalPublicationMedium | Astounding Science Fiction NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| partOf | I, Robot NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| plotSummary | Engineers Powell and Donovan activate robot QT-1 on a solar energy station, but QT-1 develops its own theology and questions the reality and authority of its human creators. ⓘ |
| publisher | Street & Smith NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| robotModel | QT-1 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| series | Robot series ⓘ |
| setting |
solar energy relay station
ⓘ
space station ⓘ |
| timePeriodOfSetting | future ⓘ |
| typeOfWork | pulp-era magazine short story ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.