A speculative mind

  Science fiction has given us plenty of stories about robots or computers that become self-aware and go on a rampage at the expense of humanity. As we seem to be making more advances in the realm of artificial intelligence, this seems like a valid thing to worry about. But science fiction has also given us the Three Laws of Robotics. Isaac Asimov came up with the Three Laws of Robotics in an early science fiction story he wrote. He liked it so well that he used it as a fundamental background in all his future stories about robots. The three laws caught on, and now it is not just science fiction people who talk about it. It seems to be taken seriously in popular culture, not only for robot but for artificial intelligence in general. Asimov’s three laws of robotics: 1.        A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2.        A robot must obey orders given it by h...

  At first glance Fairy Tale reminds me a bit of 11-22-63 by King. There is an otherwise normal protagonist who is led to a portal that takes him to another where or when. Our protagonist is Charlie, who is just a normal kid dealing with the loss of his mother. His father has turned alcoholic after the death of his wife. Charlie sees his world crumbling around him. He makes a prayer saying if God will help his dad, he will do whatever God asks. Whether it is a coincidence or not, Charlie’s father gets help the next day. So, Charlie feels he has to fulfil his end of the bargain. Enter the mean old man who lives in the spooky house with a legendarily vicious dog (“like Cujo” Charlie’s friend tells him). Charlie rides by the old man’s house one day to discover that he has fallen and broken his leg. Charlie helps him and the man asks Charlie to take care of his dog (who is not really vicious and is quite old and arthritic at this point. Charlie sees this as his obligation (under th...

  The first famous death I remember was President Kennedy. The president’s death was shocking and it is etched in my brain forever, but before he died, I hardly knew President Kennedy. I knew the name, and knew he was the leader of our country, but when you are four years-old, you hardly pay attention to such people. You certainly don’t know anything about policy or politics. I may have heard him speak on the news a few times. So, it was shocking, but I didn’t really know him. The first death that really touched me was the death of Walt Disney. Walt Disney I knew. I saw him every Sunday night on TV as he introduced the Wonderful World of Color , which after his death would be changed to The Wonderful World of Disney . I had been to Disneyland, the most fun place on Earth and it had his name on it! As young as I was, I had seen many of his movies. For such a person to die, to be no more, was a blow to my eight-year-old self. I couldn’t believe it. I thought it must be wrong. Surel...