Asimov laid the foundation for our understanding of robots and space empires. He led science fiction away from simply marveling at technology, to questioning how we use it and what it means for us as a species.
@wizardlyfrog6 жыл бұрын
laid the "foundation"? i see what you did there....
@omegafoxxtrot72486 жыл бұрын
I giggle every time someone says Asimov laid the "Foundation" of sci-fi.
@CMAZZONI6 жыл бұрын
old speaker, please come back!
@gunmasterx11646 жыл бұрын
Extra Credits talk about the troubles of Northern Ireland please
@spamus52436 жыл бұрын
I'm baffled by your suggestion that his writing is difficult to read. As someone who has difficulty getting lost in a good story, I just absorb his writing style. It's very information and action-oriented, so that the plot is constantly moving by the reveal of information and the decisions characters make. His descriptions are very succinct and convey only what is relevant for plot or characterization, so much so that when there's a reveal or twist later on, you immediately recognize the detail that should have given it away. You will never, to the best of my knowledge, find a passage that labors on and on with descriptions and details that never come up again, except when it is meant to explore an idea or technological theory as you say, but those times are when his writing shines the brightest. Granted, it's hard to generalize about Asimov, because his career as a writer spanned something like 50+ years, and that's a lot of time for writing to evolve and improve. But if you want "dense" or "difficult to read", there are much slower paced authors, like Hume and Orwell.
@paulbutkovich61036 жыл бұрын
Honestly I think he was at his best writing nonfiction. His fiction stories were imaginative, but he had a way of breaking down complex ideas and making them understandable that I have never seen equaled.
@shawnheatherly6 жыл бұрын
I'm perfectly okay with the critique on his actual skill at writing. Brilliant ideas absolutely, but that doesn't make them perfect. We have to be able to appreciate something while still understanding its flaws.
@travcollier6 жыл бұрын
That "issue" with technical writing skill is one of the reasons I much prefer the short stories from most of my favorite authors over their novels. They are still my favorite authors though ;)
@fuzzymurdermittens6 жыл бұрын
So true. It's like Lovecraft and Tolkien. Both pillars of their genres, but Lovecraft's work is incredibly racist and Tolkien's tends to drone on in a monotonous fashion at times. Thing is, we still *love* them, because they brought ideas, characters and techniques to their genres which stand the test of time and speak to something deeper. You don't have to be perfect to be great :)
@o00nemesis00o6 жыл бұрын
There's definitely a dryness to Asimov characters. They almost always seem like robots themselves. There's also what looks like ivory tower snobbery, as pretty much everyone who matters to the plot will have a PhD, even if that person is a lift attendant. The concepts and implications explored are phenomenal though. Looking forward to this series exploring the social psychology aspects of Foundation/Empire. Excuse me, I think I want to give petroleum to my V-frog.
@ginnyjollykidd6 жыл бұрын
I personally like his extreme characters. Very little if any YA angst. Science done in an industrial fashion. History of the Medieval Earth times used as a plan and plot to cause the downfall of the Empire and the rise of First Foundation. And the growing paranoia that something other than the progress of Foundation is controlling the destiny of the First Foundation. Ebling Mis, a volatile, thrifty man whose favorite cuss words are "unprintable" and "gal-AX-y." Susan Calvin who hates people and prefers robots. Hari Seldon, whose study of human nature put him in many culture clashes and embarrassing situations that could not help but turn him into a 3-D character (and ultimately the literary version of Asimov himself). R. Daneel Olivaw, the robot who traveled through worlds and lived the ages trying to fulfill not only the Three Laws of Robotics but also the Zeroth law (substitute "humanity" or "humankind" for "a human" in the First Law) which was instilled in him by another, more perceptive robot, R. Giskard. And my favorite, Golan Treviz, who determined which direction human history should continue to preserve its existence and chances to thrive. Oh, and I also like Greg Powell and Michael Donovan. All of these characters have developed depth and fleshing out and growth. Just because they all seem academic and dry doesn't mean they are flat, 2-D characters. Heck! Even a runaway robot enjoyed quoting Gilbert and Sullivan (even as Asimov loved to sing it and even Captain Jean-Luc Picard sang it).
@jeric_synergy85815 жыл бұрын
Yeahhhhhh, I recently re-read "Foundation", and that was painful. Apparently, there will be virtually ZERO women in the Empire, and the few you meet can be bought off with shiny baubles.
@anlumo16 жыл бұрын
I'd like to take a moment to congratulate the artist at how great the faces at 6:49 are drawn. So few line strokes to work with, but all of them nail exactly the right emotion in an instantly recognizable fashion.
@robertdaws47436 жыл бұрын
Issac Asimov was one author that the ideas were the reason for the book to be read. You nail that Asimov was poor in character development but the idea of thinking machines would be created and interact with humans was his child. Please don't forget "The Last Question".
@s19tealpenguin616 жыл бұрын
Which one is "The Last Question" again? Is that the one where people keep asking Multivac how to reverse entropy?
@matthewfitzpatrick42906 жыл бұрын
That's the one.
@michaelwells5296 жыл бұрын
I thought the last question was "What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?"
@DrTssha6 жыл бұрын
Michael Wells which one? An African or a European swallow? ...come to think of it, THAT might be the last question. :p
@sergiojuanmembiela62236 жыл бұрын
I would like to point that the most "human" characters I did ever read from an Asimov's work were the three aliens from "The Gods Themselves".
@goneutt6 жыл бұрын
The date of birth confusion is easy to understand, Russia had used an old calendar that had drifted to be several weeks off from Western calendars. Throw in some confusion with moving around and changing countries, and remembering the birth was sometime in late Fall might be the closest to accuracy.
@sorcererberoll46415 жыл бұрын
And that the family was probably confused about the language change
@karry2993 жыл бұрын
Also dont forget the change from metric time to imperial time system. Probably lost a year or two in translation there.
@pinkdogroslyn88324 жыл бұрын
If I ever feel discouraged while writing, I watch these videos. I hear the stories of these legendary writers in situations similar to my own. Thanks, extra credits, for keeping me on the path that I may or may not end on top of.
@hawkfeather54086 жыл бұрын
Tbh, I read some fanfics way back that had the worst writing but the best ideas. It made me cry.
@k.s.nichols40604 ай бұрын
This is why we ignore fanfics.
@ashleyhyatt63196 жыл бұрын
Finally! I've been waiting for this one for quite a while. My all time favourite! Isaac Asimov, Alan Moore, and Robert Anton Wilson forever changed my perspective.
@captnwebb46696 жыл бұрын
If your into these guys try 'Roadside picnic' by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Its quite brilliant.
@erejnion6 жыл бұрын
I was basically brought up on Asimov and Masamune Shirow.
@zetetick3956 жыл бұрын
FNORD
@ashleyhyatt63196 жыл бұрын
Yes, I've seen them (fnords). Too easy to spot these days, huh?
@lynteeyet49196 жыл бұрын
Laid the "Foundation" Haha, I see what you did there.
@mathiasgaming45866 жыл бұрын
Lynte Eyet greatest novel series ever
@AeonVoom6 жыл бұрын
Take your upvote
@ginnyjollykidd6 жыл бұрын
And built EMPIRES!
@MrU4theChillWind5 жыл бұрын
I just made the same comment 6 months after you, scrolled down & saw you beat me to it.
@jameswhite1536 жыл бұрын
Isaac Asimov was a science nerd. Other sci fi writers would call him if they needed a genuinely scientific plot point. One of them (the name escapes me) said to him "I got a guy stuck on a planet without an atmosphere and no oxygen supply, how is he breathing" and Asimov instantly replied "anaerobic respiration".
@jakemccloud29656 жыл бұрын
Isaac Asimov I put in the same category as Lovecraft and Tolkien. I don't like the majority of their works but they were Lewis and Clarks of their genres, pathing the way for everyone else.
@cosmossexiestmanever6 жыл бұрын
Yo, check out the episode on Lord Dunsany and A Dreamer's Tales, annotated by Extra Credit's own James Portnow. He's the Lewis and Clark that inspired Lovecraft and created the fantasy genre that Tolkien would combine with northern European mythology and philology to make his works.
@old-moose6 жыл бұрын
I just finish rereading the Foundation Series including the follow-ups written years later and have just started listening to the Robot Series on audiobooks. Even after 50+ years Isaac Asimov still amazes me. My reactions from high school student to retired college instructor have changed and haven't changed. I'm no longer in awe of his technological vision but I still wonder at the ideas and concepts he created. His non-fiction were excellent as well.
@asalways15046 жыл бұрын
One of my favorite authors of all time! The Foundation Trilogy is one my personal picks, which I think, inspired a lot of Star Wars.
@zvimur6 жыл бұрын
Coruscant = Trantor?
@asalways15046 жыл бұрын
Zvi mur I know right?
@Hagashager6 жыл бұрын
It also inspired a lot of Warhammer 40k. Warhammer 40,000 just takes whole concepts and ztorues from the Foundation series.
@paganbearpompom6 жыл бұрын
I've read Nightfall several years ago, i loved it and it moved me... truly. But then the years went by. I kept remembering the story but forgot all about the name. Skip forward ten years and i'm watching a video of a youtube channel i love and that moved me for so many reasons for so long and in this very video i get the name i forgot so long ago on a silver plate.... I just can't express how much i love you guys
@Richforce16 жыл бұрын
One time Asimov sat in on a literature class in college that was discussing some of his work. After class he went to the professor and told her that while her lecture was great she didn't get the meaning he was trying to say across. The professor's response? "Just because you wrote it, what makes you think you have the slightest idea what it is about?"
@BladeNgames6 жыл бұрын
“The Author is dead”
@JoakinQuariot3ro6 жыл бұрын
And that experience inspired him to write "The Immortal Bard"
@zvimur6 жыл бұрын
Pretty sure the subject was "Nightfall".
@lutherpatenge63136 жыл бұрын
Better yet, that moment was a personal revelation for Asimov and changed his work in a very positive way. It helped remind him that the reader (along with their personal perspectives and prejudices) is always a participant in the book, no matter what the author has created.
@merrittanimation77216 жыл бұрын
I laughed the first I heard that
@SmileyTrilobite6 жыл бұрын
A neat cultural item: Not knowing their child’s actual birthday (likely just not knowing how the Jewish calendar they used overlapped with the US civil calendar) and erring on the side of pushing their children academically - and also the medical school focus - was in my mother’s family, too - she is a first-generation Eastern European American on her father’s side.
@davehoffman46596 жыл бұрын
Wait. Almost no Isaac Asimov meaning almost no modern Sci-Fi means almost no Extra Sci-Fi!
@senneuh16 жыл бұрын
There would be modern Sci-Fi. It'd just be different.
@weldonwin6 жыл бұрын
You might say he laid the Foundation of modern sci-fi... I'll let myself out now
@glitchygear94536 жыл бұрын
Even if you don't know his work you'd know Asimov exists because of how often his laws of robotics are quoted.
@MyShuffleBOT6 жыл бұрын
gLItcHyGeAR and that sweet awp skin
@dragonfyre89283 жыл бұрын
I only learned about him recently, when i found some of his Foundation series in my grandparent's house, even then i didnt know he was such a famous writer, and now im writing a paper on him
@donovanulrich3486 ай бұрын
I'm with Bender "You think robots care what some crack pot scientist thinks" The three laws sound cool, but are illogical for robotics. Nothing about morality, neutrality, peace or subservience Just "don't hurt, don't harm, and don't self harm" Brother, you just opened Pandora's box. . . . . You told a toddler not to do something without explaining why. . . .
@Heydeen-300356 ай бұрын
@@donovanulrich348 that's not true. First thing to know while understanding computers and robots is that they are dumb. We must guide them, Guide them soo soo precisely because if we didn't, they will fumble. Story is same with Chat GPT and it's all version. They are much carefully crafted as that even a spill of 0 or 1 will mend them unable.
@joshualewis957076 жыл бұрын
I have several of his history books as well as his sci-fi and there is a lot of old bias in them. There were also gaping holes that we know now that they didn't then. It's fascinating to see what we take for granted now that must have been mind blowing then.
@yousefghuniem55756 жыл бұрын
5:48 it was Walpole It truly always was Walpole....
@kherossilverlight84006 жыл бұрын
I couldn't agree more on the "not being a good writer on a technical level" thing. It definately feels like a lot of his characters are just "plot drivers", and he didn't even seemed ashamed of it, as he would constantly claimed "I had this cool idea and made X character rant about it". HOWEVER, his later work, during the 80's and early 90's, would seen a much more humane Asimov, and you can easily notice the difference in his narrative. The best examples of this might be the Foundation prequels, specially the last one (even if he couldn't finish it by himself before passing away). Those novels showed very particular characterization and, no kidding, had legitimately emotional moments, without loosing the plot brilliances he had me used to.
@NamaJapan6 жыл бұрын
I hope I’ll one day be able to make as educational videos as you guys do, about topics in and around Japan. You guys are definitely one of my role models. Thank you for every single video!
@barrybend71896 жыл бұрын
Just remembering on my constant suggestions here we might need to do videos on the major artists and writers of some of the famous sci-fi (like yukito kishiro, Mamuro Nagano, mobeus, and many others) as sci-fi is much like any other genre multi medium.
@tylerowens6 жыл бұрын
Here I was happily waiting for a single episode dedicated to my all time favorite sci-fi writer, and not only do you deliver excellently on that front, but promise two more episodes on his work? What did we do to deserve Extra Credits?
@mrandrews36166 жыл бұрын
4:55 Three of my favourite authors on screen together. I love this series.
@MrTheonepack6 жыл бұрын
Asimov was the author that got me into literature with the Foundation series. Thank you guys for helping me learn more about this awesome man!
@rparl6 жыл бұрын
He said his dad got him a typewriter. But when he revised a story, he had to have full pages. So he developed the ability to revise while preserving the length of what was being replaced. I met him at a science fiction club meeting at MIT. Our club had the record for most meeting posters stolen; one was ripped off even before it went up.
@ProvenParadox6 жыл бұрын
One thing you guys need to cover is how accurate his writing regarding robotics is to modern day software debugging. In I, Robot, several of his characters go through debugging processes to repair malfunctioning androids that mirrors my own experiences as a software developer almost exactly. It's really incredible how he predicted that before the concept of "software" was common knowledge.
@angus35916 жыл бұрын
I'm halfway through Second Foundation now, what great timing! Very excited for the next episode, thanks for all your awesome work!
@LikeTheBuffalo6 жыл бұрын
Nightfall is a _fantastic_ story. I had no idea it was that early in his repertoire. Great breakdown, EC Team. Keep up the excellent work.
@lunar_trooper6 жыл бұрын
Foundation dramatically changed my view on the world. One of my all time favorite trilogies.
@herlocksholmes-uv5qw11 ай бұрын
I noticed that while I do not like Asimov's prose and character development, I still ate up "I, Robot" when I got my raccoon hands on it. The stories just have a certain amount of charm and revolution to them that I as soon as I started a shortstory, I NEEDED to be done with it in one sitting. It makes me happy that he wanted to make robots, while still artificial in nature, normal and full of their own sets of quirks
@davidcave54266 жыл бұрын
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I've been an Asimov fan for decades! Literally! I've always enjoyed his attempt to push his readers to broaden their minds and to understand not just implications, but unintended consequences. Plus the celebration in his stories of intellect, not brawn.
@lamnad6 жыл бұрын
I want to thank you for the courage it takes to say publicly what I have said privately for years. I have tried on multiple occasions to read the Foundation Series and found Asimov's writing style to cause me physical pain. I liken it to the sensation of chewing aluminum foil for the brain.
@talltroll70926 жыл бұрын
You're not exactly wrong, but you are kind of missing the point. It's like viewing a Matisse, and complaining that all the little dots make it hard to see what the picture is :) But, yeah, not everyone appreciates his style
@lamnad6 жыл бұрын
Tall Troll, I think for me it is like taking the same painter and saying "I'm sure that a lot of people like it but I don't like his style."
@NelsonStJames6 жыл бұрын
An interesting tidbit, Issac Asimov refused to fly. Back in the day if you wanted him for a convention you had to arrange bus, or train transportation. Also hoping you use the Harlan Ellison anecdote of Ellison's first meeting with Asimov when he was just starting out.
@merrittanimation77216 жыл бұрын
Nelson Smith Apparently he had a fear of flying and open spaces
@gerardtrigo3806 жыл бұрын
Love your series on the Greats of Science FIction. Looking forward to ones on Clifford Simak, Lester Del Rey and Ray Bradbury among others.
@blake-816 жыл бұрын
7:48 First of all, let me say this is not a ''historical fact'' but something I learned from my Literature teacher on highschool (who loved Asimov's works and Sci-Fi in general), but it is said that, when writing, Asimov would use 3 typewriters at the same time to write 3 different things, sometimes even whole different stories. That's a superpower if I've ever seen one....
@nawarelsabaa6 жыл бұрын
Asimov, hell yeah! I can't wait to see what you guys have to say about Foundation! Also, after I read the Foundation series, I fell upon another one of his sci-fi stories. ''The Gods Themselves' explored ideas that are, even by today's standards, absolutely novel. I don't suppose it will get a mention is your series, but it's a book worth reading for sure.
@ArcMedicalResearch6 жыл бұрын
me, audibly for some reason, watching the end card: "oh no there goes the cat...." *cat comes back around* "ohh!"
@lafafaear6 жыл бұрын
we forget the best sci-fi writer, kilgore trout
@caiarcosbotias17106 жыл бұрын
5:53 "It was Warpole". Some things should never change.
@MrSpeakerCone6 жыл бұрын
I don't think I'd want an Asimov story told with a "technically good" style. I love his stories exactly as they are.
@theeyehead34376 жыл бұрын
Finally! Glad to see my favorite SF author of all time on one of my favorite internet shows of all time.
@CrissaKentavr6 жыл бұрын
This is one place the change in narrator I think works! You just sound more genuine with a love for scifi ^-^
@Alorand6 жыл бұрын
My 2nd favorite author of 'Robot' stories after Stanisław Lem.
@merrittanimation77216 жыл бұрын
Alorand Wait he wrote robot stories? I've only read Solaris so that's a surprise to me.
@schusterlehrling4 жыл бұрын
@@merrittanimation7721 he even wrote Robot tales.
@albenjammin6 жыл бұрын
Honestly my favorite sci-fi writer of all time. And it is amazing that he predicted so much including water on Mars!
@amoghavarshamurthy4 жыл бұрын
Love his 'The Intelligent Man's Guide to the Physical Sciences'. Wonderful book
@ab762546 жыл бұрын
As someone who doesn't know Asimov's work very well, this comment section is a surprisingly informative addition to the video!
@offduty236 жыл бұрын
My favorite quote from Asimov's Foundation Series: "The fall of Empire, gentlemen, is a massive thing, however, and not easily fought. It is dictated by a rising bureaucracy, a receding initiative, a freezing of caste, a damming of curiosity-a hundred other factors. It has been going on, as I have said, for centuries, and it is too majestic and massive a movement to stop."
@AverytheCubanAmerican6 жыл бұрын
Oooh, I love this new series!
@TheCreepypro6 жыл бұрын
oh man not only this week but the next two weeks too? this is going to be awesome!
@productivediscord56246 жыл бұрын
Lays the Foundation huh. Walpole is our Hari Sheldon.
@weldonwin6 жыл бұрын
Hari Seldon and I'd say he was more like Daneel, quietly pulling strings in the background of history
@merrittanimation77216 жыл бұрын
weldonwin Nice
@TheSoijohn6 жыл бұрын
the bicentennial man made me cry when I read through it, so i guess... even if I.A was lacking in some writing skills, it still worked ? Great video anyway ! Cant wait to see the rest of it !
@davidolde41736 жыл бұрын
I'm so hyped for "The foundation", great series!
@josetnmartinez6 жыл бұрын
I really love this episode well paced Welldone. great artwork and I also love the ending animation I think you found your stride.
@kalizec6 жыл бұрын
@Matt this way of narrating is an improvement over how you did the first 1918 Flu Pandemic episodes. Still no Dan, but you're getting closer. Keep it up!
@smiley.65346 жыл бұрын
I AM LITTERALY HAVING A PEE-BREAK FROM "SALVATION" WHERE THIS GUY IS REFERENCED, MIND BLOWN.
@nathanclay8216 жыл бұрын
Thank god, you're back. Missed the Extra Sci Fi!
@likosmith166 жыл бұрын
I can't wait to see where your going with this series!
@ViscountAlexOfTheHorsePeople6 жыл бұрын
Love that you're looking at Asimov! Any chance of a Harlan Ellison episode/series on the horizon, in honour of his passing earlier this year?
@GwenFleetfoot6 жыл бұрын
I love the foundation series. One of the most unique universes I've read about.
@falconlars69315 жыл бұрын
I daydream about something with many simularities to his books foundation, foundation and empire and second foundation before i heard of him. great video!!!
@MrTokesu6 жыл бұрын
Yay I just finished the Foundation trilogy. Thanks for this.
@federicocarlucci79735 жыл бұрын
I'm here now for the same reason xD
@henrydaubresse9652 Жыл бұрын
My favorite reading from (I think from "Opus 200") concerns Asimov's 1965 book "An Introduction to the Slide Rule", which seemed to be on its way to becoming a "standard" until January, 1970, when the Sharp QT-8b "Micro Compet" pocket Calculator exploded onto the market! Since a Slide Rule gives a result of from 3 to (if you're lucky) 5 significant numbers and a mechanical Curta Calculator cost two and a half times what the QT-8b did, toe unstoppable wheels of Progress ground one of his favorite didactic works of love into obscurity, except among us "slipstick fans".
@PalmelaHanderson6 жыл бұрын
THE ART FOR THIS SERIES IS SO GODDAMN GOOD
@ethangilchrist35346 жыл бұрын
H**k yes! Asimov is my favorite sci-fi writer and I'm so excited you did a series on him
@seancasey19926 жыл бұрын
really starting to come around Matt. still miss Dan but your doing some really solid werk
@hsavietto6 жыл бұрын
Nightfall is one of my favorite of Asimov's stories! I recommend it to everyone.
@aaroncraftedgoldencalf6 жыл бұрын
I was in Junior High and got bored. My mom dug out her copy of Nightfall. I was down the Asimov rabbit hole after that and have never looked back. I love the Asimov universe. Not sure I would have appreciated Frank Herbert's Dune universe so much without Isaac whetting my appetite for "BIG IDEA" sci-fi.
@Roycesraphim16 жыл бұрын
I read nightfall as a teen. It teased just a bit of hope, and beautifully crushes it.
@countryhat55316 жыл бұрын
I'm excited for this series!
@GREENSP0RE6 жыл бұрын
Anyone want to expand on the "clerical error honorable discharge".
@PtolemyJones4 жыл бұрын
One of the Big Three and deservedly so. Awesome.
@hfar_in_the_sky6 жыл бұрын
Noice! _Robotics_ never really did that much for me but the _Foundation_ series rank among my favorite books!
@Drowbog_Bibbles13464 жыл бұрын
Not only did he make some great sci fi He also made great strides in the research of thiotimoline
@Timberwolf5816 жыл бұрын
Can't wait for Foundation!
@fishapiller3 жыл бұрын
Love your channel and love his books
@MisterJasro6 жыл бұрын
As a student of Economics and having just finished a course in the contemporary developments, I am quite curious which theories did he influence and with which stories?
@ZeMalta5 жыл бұрын
I do believe most Sci-Fi writers struggle a bit with the writing pace or dynamism, and well, this is a skill most writers take their careers perfecting, so it's not a fault as much of a development. And sci-fi suffers this much because it has to contextualize technologies, ideologies, mechanisms, and etc. so it bogs down the pace. But, the gains we got from such minds as Asimov, Lovecraft and Huxley (and infinite others) are much grander than we would have got if they wrote better but had less innovative ideas.
@Anonymaty6 жыл бұрын
THANK YOU for saying that he was not a great writer in the technical sense.
@sarysa6 жыл бұрын
Does human nature really change, or is it simply responding to the technology (plus the goods/distractions some tech produces) of the era?
@travcollier6 жыл бұрын
Memes... in the Dawkins sense, not internet ;)
@Ristaak6 жыл бұрын
Ahh real memes, the genes of society, or as the internet meme goes DNA of the Soul.
@Jhakaro6 жыл бұрын
Yeah human nature on a fundamental level, never changes, it's just how we express those emotions or to what extent that changes, how we view the world based on science, social progress and technology. The same tendencies we had thousands of years ago are still there. Society changes however and with it, what we expect to be normal and considered okay vs what we don't. Unfortunately for writers, we're all stuck in our own time period and no matter what we do, we can't ever really tell a "realistic" future because we're always basing it on society and science that we know of now.
@agilemind62416 жыл бұрын
Depends what we mean by "human nature". Our psychology and personality is certainly flexible and responds to environmental conditions - i.e. take identical twins and raise one in war-zone and the other in a safe white-picket-fence suburb and they'll end up very different people.
@starstudy87526 жыл бұрын
I have been waiting for Asimov since you started Sci-Fi.
@vilstef69884 жыл бұрын
It is speculated that because of Asimov's prolific writing, he will be one of the only authors from the 20th century known in the 30th. (I will pessimistically add, if there is still an advanced civilization on Earth and the archiving which would preserve at least some of his work.)
@funkentanz6 жыл бұрын
Ou nice series! I just have read all Asimov books and stories this summer!
@batukurnaz6 жыл бұрын
Finally! Thank you!!
@vithei4776 жыл бұрын
I cant wait to see your vids on the founfation. I have read all of them many times. Including the preludes.
@LordKarandras6 жыл бұрын
Blasphemy! Heressy!, To the pire with you!.... Well... to the pire when you are done with this saga... XD Nicely done! Keep it up!
@ginnyjollykidd6 жыл бұрын
Pyre, not pire.
@LordKarandras6 жыл бұрын
Ty!
@sohrabroozbahani47006 жыл бұрын
Isaac the great, i believe about two third of everything SciFi i red before the age of fast internet was his writings, short and long, and i proudly say if i did not know Asimov i would probably never pick up a pen and start writing myself, although i don't see myself in position to ever do anything in his caliber or even direction, yet, i am a writer mainly because one day i memorized the name Isaac Asimov so i would buy the next book i would see from him on the shelves of that second hand book store...
@notablegoat6 жыл бұрын
"Marooned Off Vesta" is a pretty good one, a favorite of mine
@adrianleal23466 жыл бұрын
Hey, this series has gotten me super excited about sci-fi, which I must admit, I never cared that much about. I would greatly appreciate a recommendation of which book/author to start with. Excited to hear any thoughts Extra Credit fans!
@vaiyt6 жыл бұрын
I love Nightfall! It was the first adult sci-fi story I ever read.
@alexisb5226 жыл бұрын
Isaac asimov is my favorite sci fi writer by far
@donaldchesnes1876 жыл бұрын
Asimov took great pride in his "utilitarian" prose. He believed the skill to express his ideas in plain, simple language was actually more difficult and more valuable then fancy prose, which may have been beautiful to look at but restricted comprehension. He often compared it to the difference between a clear glass window and one made of stained glass.
@FlowersOfMoss6 жыл бұрын
Nightfall is one of my favorite stories of all time
@sorcerer80325 жыл бұрын
"he soon realized he disliked dissecting cats". yea lol, the first time you see one is really something when you pull the Lil bugger out of the bag and plop it on the tray. I knew a few people in the room who noped out for the first few minutes but later just interjected a poor kitty once in a while working on it.
@ryanoreilly92836 жыл бұрын
I am geuinely interested. I have never read, but have always wanted to read Asimov. Is there any easy way to obtain Asimov's stories so that I can read them? Yes, I am mainly interested in the books that he wrote on the Laws of Robotics and how he purposely wrote stories to show how they broke down. I am however looking for other suggestions if anyone has some.
@brycevo5 жыл бұрын
Asimov had such a unique life and experiences.
@Ouvii6 жыл бұрын
By the way since it will undoubtedly come up, Asimov's laws of robotics don't work and shouldn't be taken seriously (unless you are seriously considering how they fall short of AI safety); even his writing demonstrates that they don't work.
@LaceNWhisky6 жыл бұрын
This statement is basically the "Frankenstein was the name of the scientist, not the creature" of Asimov's work.
@wanderingrandomer6 жыл бұрын
The whole point of Asimov's writings is that the laws of robotics DON'T work as intended.
@simplylinn6 жыл бұрын
I guess you mean this whole "define a human", "define harm" etc. debacle? While yes, if you use the definitions as they are told for humans in the books, they don't work for that reason, but the laws are not, in fact, the 3 phrases we all know and love. The laws are more sci-fi-y in nature, they are encoded patterns into the positronic brain of a robot, which in layman's terms roughly translates to the definitions we all know. The actual implementation of these laws is never really explored, since, I assume, the moral issues of defining "human" and "harm" never really crossed Asimov's mind. The laws CAN work, if we stop looking at them from a natural language perspective and realize that the robotologists encoded more thorough and machine understandable definitions of the words. Although, this is the real world, we must actually do the defining, we can't brush it off as being "solved" by robotology to just further a plot. So in the real world, we must first solve ethics, morality, and define "human" and "harm", and THEN we can start having the same issues as in Asimov's stories, since the stories are, in fact, about how these laws will fail
@andrewhoward69466 жыл бұрын
The I Robot stories are fantastic in that back in 1950, Aasimov predicted the trials of a modern IT department. Namely, dealing with unexpected software flaws.
@MasterTMO6 жыл бұрын
Iirc, he came up with the laws very early in his career, and as his stories explored the concept he found the loopholes and exploited them naturally. It wasn't a fully formed 'here are the laws, and here are the problems with them' instant concept.
@maxwright37976 жыл бұрын
Fantastic series! I only hope Iain M. Banks will make the cut for a future episode