What's the view on equality?

[Redfaery]

I've just finished the book, but I'm not sure what you mean about the conclusion.

Giskard, the mechanical-looking robot turned out to be far more complex than Daneel and Jander, the androids. I seem to recall that his brain broke the barrier, so to speak.

It's been 15 years since I read the book though. So I could be misremembering.

[Juniperberry]

Giskard, the mechanical-looking robot turned out to be far more complex than Daneel and Jander, the androids. I seem to recall that his brain broke the barrier, so to speak.

It's been 15 years since I read the book though. So I could be misremembering.

 
Ah. Yeah, in an accidental chance of programming Giskard gained telepathic abilities, and used that ability to his advantage in obeying the Three Laws.

Earlier in the book, two characters had discussed the legend of a telepathic robot who was rendered inactive by it's programmer through the application of an unsolvable contradiction of Laws concerning it's telepathy.

Since Giskard was aware of the legend, he kept his telepathic abilities a secret from his programmer. If not, he too would have been rendered inactive through "roblock". The Third Law of Robotics is that a robot must protect it's own existence as long as it does not conflict with the First or Second Laws. By hiding his telepathy, he was better able to follow the First and Second Law, whereas admitting his telepathy would have conflicted with all Three.  

So Giskard didn't break the Godel barrier, though he did have unique abilities.

[Redfaery]

Ah. Yeah, in an accidental chance of programming Giskard gained telepathic abilities, and used that ability to his advantage in obeying the Three Laws.

Earlier in the book, two characters had discussed the legend of a telepathic robot who was rendered inactive by it's programmer through the application of an unsolvable contradiction of Laws concerning it's telepathy.

Since Giskard was aware of the legend, he kept his telepathic abilities a secret from his programmer. If not, he too would have been rendered inactive through "roblock". The Third Law of Robotics is that a robot must protect it's own existence as long as it does not conflict with the First or Second Laws. By hiding his telepathy, he was better able to follow the First and Second Law, whereas admitting his telepathy would have conflicted with all Three.  

So Giskard didn't break the Godel barrier, though he did have unique abilities.

 
Aaaaaaaah.....now the ending makes SOOOO much more sense to me. I read it when I was like, 16. So there was a lot I didn't get.

[Juniperberry]

Aaaaaaaah.....now the ending makes SOOOO much more sense to me. I read it when I was like, 16. So there was a lot I didn't get.

After your first comment, I kept reading the book waiting for Plainclothesman Baley to find out that he was actually an advanced humanoid robot that was not bound by the Three Laws to the extent that he couldn't be "roblocked", and had therefore disproved the Godel Theorem.

It didn't help matters that the top roboticist kept hinting that he was studying the human brain for the advancement of a C/Fe culture, and that his adversary was trying to create a robot society that could reproduce and become generational. I was sure that Baley's Earth, with it's underground Cities and mechanical expressway strips, was actually a manufacturing warehouse for robots, and that his fear of nature and the chaotic Outside was the result of being a mechanical being of complete Order. :p

[Redfaery]

After your first comment, I kept reading the book waiting for Plainclothesman Baley to find out that he was actually an advanced humanoid robot that was not bound by the Three Laws to the extent that he couldn't be "roblocked", and had therefore disproved the Godel Theorem.

It didn't help matters that the top roboticist kept hinting that he was studying the human brain for the advancement of a C/Fe culture, and that his adversary was trying to create a robot society that could reproduce and become generational. I was sure that Baley's Earth, with it's underground Cities and mechanical expressway strips, was actually a manufacturing warehouse for robots, and that his fear of nature and the chaotic Outside was the result of being a mechanical being of complete Order. :p

 
That honestly would have been a much better ending. :ange: