Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke

[james_davis_nicoll]

Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke

Comments

[james_davis_nicoll]

Remember when being selected by the SFBC was something worth putting on the cover?

[ba_munronoe]

"It's OK to enslave them because they are genuinely inferior" is, in fact, still a pro-slavery argument.

(The ethics of entities _designed_ to be slaves is, I think, a slightly different issue. Are Asimov robots cool with being slaves? The Laws of Robotics do not include "4. A Robot will be as pleased as punch to follow human orders." OTOH, since Asimov robots generally lack emotions, can they have feelings on their enslavement beyond a firm "meh"?")

[james_davis_nicoll]

I do not think Asimov intended this but many of the Three Laws puzzles read like the robots are fucking with the humans within the limits of their cognitive constraints.

[kgbooklog]

Asimov probably just thought they were clever plots, but Pratchett had a comment once about rebelling through blind obedience. And there's this from the webcomic But I'm a Cat Person.

[dragoness_e]

but Pratchett had a comment once about rebelling through blind obedience.

Work to rule!

[(Anonymous)]

I note that at least two of the Doctor Who spinoff series had former enemies cognitively constrained to serve the heroes, which is icky.

[mindstalk]

> "It's OK to enslave them because they are genuinely inferior" is, in fact, still a pro-slavery argument.

Like seeing-eye dogs and horses?

[(Anonymous)]

I have from time to time pondered sending in a book club coupon from an older publication to get ten books for ten cents or whatever.

Alas, my dream is crushed by a mere footnote to a review.