Isaac Asimov: Foundation of a Writing Genius

One of your best.

R. Daneel Olivaw is one of the most interesting characters in Asimov's Foundation books. Is he a robot or is he a man? The Shadow knows.

日本語読みだとアイザックですが聖書で言うイサクなのですね。勉強になります📖

To : Issac Asimov from Robbie Robert Wayne Dukes. I said all that to say all this: To never have met you in person, you / your books have had the most profound impact on my life. I’m now 70 years old Sometimes, I would take a commuter’s bus (I think I was about 10😊 / 14 years old) - cost a dollar - to the station and walk to the Atlanta Public Library and take a look around (my first trip there) and decided on a science fiction book. “I Robot”. Now, I build them … thanks!

Asimov's short story Robbie or previously named Strange Playfellow is a favorite 😍

It’s true, you cannot equate ignorance to knowledge, but a human right isn’t a simple thing either. Just started reading his stories; I wonder if he ever touched on the dilemma in the subject. If you’re ignorant, do you deserve less rights? And if you are more intelligent, do you deserve more? And then, how do we determine if there are rights that are fundamental to all of humankind, and if anyone should have the authority to take away, bestow, and judge who deserves basic human rights. What would that look like. And as for his personal life, it’s sad to see that it ended up the way it did, considering the annoyances that led to his divorce, or the distant relationship of his children, and the inappropriate behavior he engaged in. The content of his fictional stories has an immense amount of influence. And a lesson we can learn from Frank Herbert, is that there can be a dichotomy in reality when we really analyze our leaders/heroes. It seems as though, in spite of his philosophical, and scientific proficiencies, Asimov was not exempt from suffering this issue.

The Earth is flat!! Get over it.

Asimov is my favorite science fiction author. The Foundation books are a marvel and cemented his place in this bibliophile's heart. I cried when I learned of his death. Even with all the books I've read over my life, no one has supplanted Asimov as my favorite author.

The rules will always live in my programming

L Frank Baum was also an early user of robots in literature

'Foundation' over 'lord of the rings' all day, no question!!! Besides they are not even the same genre.

Brilliant overview. 👍

I love his writing but he was a perv 🤢

Can you do one on Immanuel Velikovsky?

The first science fiction story I read was in a school book when I was 8. It was 'The Fun They Had'. When schools went remote for the pandemic, I thought of that story.

I have not read the Foundation books, but I will plan to read them as soon as possible. Just based on the summary sounds like the foundation box examine a lot of the same ideas that Frank Herbert explored in the Dune books.

Whenever the host is talking, it feels like I'm at the other side of the table and I'm listening to him talk. Anyways, I don't like this issac guy.

You said it was unfortunate that he never wrote a book about writing. On the contrary, he did. It's just that it's spread out in his other writings. In every short story collection he ever did, he has an intro to every story, often describing how it came to be. The totality of these commentaries adds up to more than a books worth of writing all about how he wrote. Additionally, there is quite a bit about his writing methodology included in his two volume autobiography ("In Memory Yet Green" and "In Joy Still Felt"). In total he wrote more than a book's worth, just not collated into a single book.

Great presentation Simon and team. Listening to how Isaac Asimov spent his days writing was abaolutely jaw dropping (and probably not doable today unless he was already wealthy) and his suggestion to have other open projects to turn to when the current project just wasn't grooving is gold. That last quote you spoke aptly applies to the American GOP "political party" that's doing its best to destroy American democracy from within:they're hell bent on canceling the votes,the voices,and the will of the American people via voter suppression laws aimed at peoples of color,women,and the LGBTQ+ community,denying,downplaying,or outright lying about the very real and thankfully unsuccessful failed coup on 1/6/21 to keep their beloved impotent Orange Snowflake in office,and their persistent,consistent,and intentional use of fear mongering,
disinformation, and hatred to further their own selfish gains and to retaliate against their perceived enemies when unbiased investigations prove criminal intent in criminal activities. If Asimov was alive today,I wonder how he'd feel about the status of American politics and American democracy today. Well done Simon and team on another cool presentation.

My dad had a few Asimov books so when I was growing up, I'd read them. Even as a very young child with minimal reading comprehension abilities, the stories fascinated me and when read them again years later, they were even better

That I did not know ... Some of his works grace my bookshelves ... Such an unfair end for a man who deserved better. Robots or MD's - beware of both; & Political despots in any form - especially those in the saddle.

Read a collection of his short stories a couple years back. Some of them were so profound, so creative, so full of untouchable imagination I laughed and cried. I wish I had a 10th of the man's genius and imagination.

As far as I can tell, the Foundation series was set to span one thousand years, not thousands.

One name you might consider for a future profile is H.L. Menken. I haven't see much content regarding him, and your work us so thorough, I think it might be of interest.

HOW MANY LIKES CAN WE GIVE HERE?

He was a great author but I feel like it's poetic justice that he was a habitual ass grabber and then got hiv from a blood transfusion. Karma bitch!

You need to do one of these on Buckminster Fuller

Emigrated! Fact boi, can you not get your language right at all?

Final quote often describes social media

Do Harlan Ellison next, please!

His Memoir I highly recommend for a great read. 👍

Thank you Simon loved this video.

This is why human beings are afraid of robots. Because the robots would actually try and most likely be successful at upholding standards that human beings have yet to truly master.

Plus with robots there are no gray areas. It either is or it is not. Meanwhile with human beings, gray areas have been used to confuse people and sway opinion to individual causes

Robot….roughly translated from Russian to worker..rabot.automatic worker.automaton was an earlier name

Simon: you could spend all day reading Isaac Asimov's books (titles).

Great. Do E. Ron Hubbard

Sounds like a horrible individual. This is a common problem with humanists and naturalist. our actions and moral standing should be an outpouring of our faith in God.

The cool Adam Friedland 😎

G his divorce couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that he wrote all day long from 7:30 in the morning until 10 PM at night completely ignoring his wife and children… The divorce could not possibly have anything to do with that.

What will happen to you when you die?

THE GOSPEL SIMPLY EXPLAINED
by Mike Peralta. Permission is granted to copy and distribute this gospel document to everyone you wish. If desired, reduce to font size 9.5 to fit on one sheet (Double Sided).
If you were to die today, would you be certain that you would go to Heaven?
If you are not certain, then please read on.
Many think that since they have lived a good life then they will probably go to Heaven.
It's good to do good deeds and God wants that, but your good deeds cannot make up for your sins. It's like a bank robber that gets caught and tells the police that he gives to the poor and helps people. That does not make up for the fact that he robbed the bank.
God wants everyone to go to Heaven and be with Him. That is why He sent Jesus to die on the cross for us.
In John 3:16 it says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
The word perish here means the opposite of eternal life -- which is eternal death or Hell. God gives us His instructions in the bible to lead us to Him so that we can receive salvation. He does this because He loves us and wants everyone to be in Heaven with Him when they die.
In Romans 3:23 it says, “For all have sinned; and fall short of God's glorious standard.”
What this means is that all of us have sinned. We have all done wrong and do not deserve to be in God's glorious presence. None of us deserve to go to Heaven. I don't deserve to go, you don't deserve to go. None of us deserve to go to Heaven. We have all disobeyed God in our lives.
In Romans 6:23 it says, “For the wages of sin is DEATH, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Here “the wages of sin” means the “consequence of sin” or what we earn by sinning.
And the type of death being described here is spiritual death -- which is Hell -- as explained in the Bible in the book of Revelations where it states
“The lake of fire is the second DEATH. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:14-15.
So these last 3 scriptures are very serious because they are saying that:
1. We Have All Sinned,
2. The Consequence Of Sin Is Death, and
3. Death Is The Lake of Fire or Hell.
What this means is that we are all destined to go to Hell -- unless we allow God to intervene in our life.
But God does not want anyone to go to Hell. That is why He sent Jesus to die for all our sins on the cross.
And it is only through Jesus that we can receive eternal life. In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.”
We can only be saved through Jesus. There is no other way. The only payment that the Father accepts for our sins is the blood of Jesus. That is why He sent Jesus to die for our sins. He did it because He loves us. It is not because we deserve it -- because none of us deserve to go to Heaven.
Now it is only the children of God that get to be with God when they die. In John 1:12 God the Father, shows us how to become His child. He tells us,
“But to all who believed in Him, that is Jesus, and received Him, He gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)
And believing in Christ not only means that you believe that He exists, it also means that you put your full trust and obedience in Him. That is what is meant by believing in Him as Lord.
The word “Lord” means “King” or “Master” -- the One you trust and obey. In Romans 10:9 it says, “If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
The word “confess” means “to agree with.” So to truly confess that Jesus is Lord means that He is your Lord- the One you surrender to and trust and obey.
Now you receive Christ through faith and not by “earning it” with good deeds. It says in Ephesians 2:8-9 that, “For it is by grace (or undeserved favor) that you are saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast.” Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so, none of us can brag about it.”
You don't earn salvation -- you receive it as a free gift from God. It is like receiving a Birthday gift. You don't pay for the Birthday gift. But you do decide whether you will receive it or not.
The price of your salvation was paid for by Jesus on the cross. And the cost to Jesus was very terrible. It is way beyond what I can comprehend. Jesus suffered terribly for us so that we all could go to Heaven. The one thing left for you to do, is to receive the salvation Jesus paid for as a free gift from God.
Although Jesus wants very much to give eternal life to everyone, He will not force anyone to receive Him as Lord. He gives everyone a free will choice. But He does invite everyone who wants to, to receive Him and receive eternal life.
In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will go in and eat with him, and he with Me.”
So we all have a choice to make. We can live a self-directed life -- separate from God -- or a Christ directed life with God.
In a self-directed life you go your own way without God. But the choice is forever. If you die in that state you will forever be separated from God and perish (become damned) in Hell. In Luke 13:3 Jesus warns us that “unless you repent, you too will all perish.” God does not desire this for anyone but God will not force anyone to receive Him.
In a Christ-directed life, you surrender completely to Christ and give your life to Him. God created us and He died on the cross for us. He loves us dearly. In reality, God gives us infinitely more than what we could ever give Him.
If you do give your life to Jesus then Jesus promises you eternal life as He says in John 6:40, which says, “For My Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes, that is trusts, in Him shall have eternal life.”
By receiving Jesus as Lord of your life you at the same time repent from going your own way -- which is always away from God.
In fact, the word “repent” means to turn around. To make a U-turn. To change from going your own way, to going God's way by following Him. Repent also means to turn away from sin. By following Jesus you also turn away from sin.
As you receive Jesus and give your life to Him, you also ask for His forgiveness and reject all pursuit of sin.
If you have walked away from the Lord or have gone back to sinning and now want to repent of sin and come back to Jesus, you can also pray as shown below.
The prayer is shown below. Do you want to pray this prayer to God? It is not to me, or to my church, or to my denomination. It is a prayer you are making to God. It is a decision you are making to God -- Who created you and loves you.
Would you like to pray this prayer (sinner’s prayer) to commit your life to Jesus? Say each line to God as follows:
Sinner’s Prayer
Prayer to Receive Jesus As Lord:
“Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and unable to save myself by my own deeds or my own way. But I do believe that You love me, and that You were sent to die on the cross for my sins. Right here and now, I repent of all sin and ask you to forgive all my sins and give me the gift of eternal life. I completely give my life to You, Jesus. Thank You, dear God, for hearing and answering my prayer, and for giving me eternal life as You promised You would. Amen.”

"foundation" haha I see what you did there

I'm so bored with this

Psychohistory was actually.invented by Freud... but Asimov made it better. I first met him when I was 14 at a Star Trek convention and many times after...

Asimov over J R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R Tolkien any given day....

One of the things I really enjoy about Science Fiction (and Fantasy) writing is that it can explore the question: What IF?

Susan Calvin's observation about robots is a case in point. She believes that thanks to the 3 laws of Robotics, robots are basically decent. Yet in some of his later writings, Asimov seems to play with this concept. What if the definition of Human changed for a robot? Could that chance make these basically decent robots racist, and by not recognizing Humans as Humans, could these basically decent robots become cold blooded murderers? Are you still a decent being if you allow horrible things to happen to creatures you don't necessarily recognize as Human?

How did they survive pneumonia with out Bill Gates?