Evidence (Asimov)
Encyclopedia
Evidence is a science fiction
short story
by Isaac Asimov
. It was first published in the September 1946 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections I, Robot
(1950), The Complete Robot
(1982), and Robot Visions
(1990).
Many people choose to see Asimov's treatment of technophobia
as an allegory to the anti-Semitism
with which he was bitterly familiar; he wrote Evidence during Army service shortly after World War II
.
Orson Welles
purchased the movie rights for Evidence. Asimov was initially gleeful, imagining that a grand, Citizen Kane
-style motion picture would soon be in the works. However, Welles did nothing further, and Asimov earned nothing except two hundred fifty dollars and Welles's letter. (His then-wife, Gertrude Blugerman, advised him to hold out for more money, but neither of them considered option payments which could be renewed every several years, allowing the movie rights to relapse if Welles took no action.) The fact that other parties held movie rights to Asimov's stories was a significant impediment to filming his story collection I, Robot
.
, a humanitarian
who never presses for the death penalty. He runs for Mayor
of New York City
, but Francis Quinn's political machine
smears him, claiming that he is a humanoid robot
, that is, a machine built to look like a human being. If this is true, the "Frankenstein complex
" hysteria will ruin his campaign, as of course, only human beings are allowed to run for office. Quinn approaches U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men
corporation, the world's only supplier of positronic robot brains, and attempts to persuade them that Byerley must be a robot. No one has ever seen Byerley eat or sleep, Quinn reports.
All attempts to prove or disprove Byerley's humanity fail. He visits the U.S. Robots offices, where the Chief Robopsychologist
Susan Calvin
offers him an apple. Quite nonchalantly, Byerley takes a bite — proving nothing, since like R. Daneel Olivaw
, he may have been designed with an emergency stomach. Quinn attempts to take clandestine X-ray
photographs, but Byerley wears a device which fogs the camera. Through all these investigations, Byerley remains calm and smiling, pointing out that he is only upholding his civil rights, just as he would do for others if he is elected. His opponents claim that, as a robot, he has no civil rights, but Byerley counters that they must first prove that he is a robot, before they can deny his rights as a human — including his right not to submit to physical examination.
Once all physical means are exhausted, Susan Calvin indicates that they must turn to the psychological side. If Byerley is a robot, he must obey the Three Laws of Robotics
. Were Byerley to violate one of the Laws, he would clearly be a human, since no robot can contradict its basic programming. However, if Byerley obeys the Laws, it still doesn't prove he is a robot, since the Laws were invented with human morality in mind. "He may simply be a very good man," observes Dr. Calvin.
Ironically, to prove himself to be a human being, Byerley must demonstrate that he is capable of harming a human. (This low-key and indirect satire is characteristic of Asimov's more political stories, another prime example being The Martian Way
and its attack upon McCarthyism
.)
Byerley never confirms or denies his flesh-and-blood status and lets the entire campaign ride on this single issue. While he is giving a speech, a heckler rushes the stage, and the heckler asks to be hit in the face. Byerley complies and punches the heckler in the face. Most people are convinced that he is human, and the emotional uproar demolishes Quinn's smear campaign. Byerley wins the election without further difficulty.
In the final scene, Susan Calvin confronts Byerley, who is again spending a late night awake. She says that she is somewhat regretful Byerley turned out human, because after all, a robot would make an ideal ruler, one incapable of cruelty or injustice. In an almost teasing speech, quite unlike her usual self, Dr. Calvin notes that there is one case, "just one", where a robot may avoid the First Law: when the "man" who is harmed is merely another humanoid robot. This implies that the heckler whom Byerley punched may have been a robot, and if that was the case, Byerley hadn't broken the First Law, leaving the question of his humanity open. At the end Dr. Calvin notes that Byerley had his body atomized upon his "death" thus wiping out any evidence either way.
Several earlier scenes interspersed through the story, in which Byerley meets with his old "teacher", now take on new significance.
As she leaves Byerley, Dr. Calvin promises to vote for him when he runs for national office. Asimov's later story The Evitable Conflict
reveals that he prospers in politics, eventually becoming head of the planetary government.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
. It was first published in the September 1946 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections I, Robot
I, Robot
I, Robot is a collection of nine science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov, first published by Gnome Press in 1950 in an edition of 5,000 copies. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines Super Science Stories and Astounding Science Fiction between 1940 and 1950. The stories are...
(1950), The Complete Robot
The Complete Robot
The Complete Robot is a collection of 31 science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov written between 1939 and 1977. Most of the stories had been previously collected in the books I, Robot and The Rest of the Robots, while four stories had previously been uncollected and the rest had been...
(1982), and Robot Visions
Robot Visions
Robot Visions is a collection of science fiction short stories and factual essays by Isaac Asimov. Many of the stories are reprinted from other Asimov collections, particularly I, Robot and The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories...
(1990).
Many people choose to see Asimov's treatment of technophobia
Technophobia
Technophobia is the fear or dislike of advanced technology or complex devices, especially computers. tech·no·pho·bi·a n. Fear of or aversion to technology, especially computers and high technology. -Related forms: tech'no·phobe' n., tech'no·pho'bic adj."— "tech·no·pho·bi·a - Show Spelled...
as an allegory to the anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
with which he was bitterly familiar; he wrote Evidence during Army service shortly after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
purchased the movie rights for Evidence. Asimov was initially gleeful, imagining that a grand, Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
-style motion picture would soon be in the works. However, Welles did nothing further, and Asimov earned nothing except two hundred fifty dollars and Welles's letter. (His then-wife, Gertrude Blugerman, advised him to hold out for more money, but neither of them considered option payments which could be renewed every several years, allowing the movie rights to relapse if Welles took no action.) The fact that other parties held movie rights to Asimov's stories was a significant impediment to filming his story collection I, Robot
I, Robot
I, Robot is a collection of nine science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov, first published by Gnome Press in 1950 in an edition of 5,000 copies. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines Super Science Stories and Astounding Science Fiction between 1940 and 1950. The stories are...
.
Plot summary
Stephen Byerley is a lawyer, a successful, middle-aged prosecutorProsecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
, a humanitarian
Humanitarianism
In its most general form, humanitarianism is an ethic of kindness, benevolence and sympathy extended universally and impartially to all human beings. Humanitarianism has been an evolving concept historically but universality is a common element in its evolution...
who never presses for the death penalty. He runs for Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, but Francis Quinn's political machine
Political machine
A political machine is a political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses , who receive rewards for their efforts...
smears him, claiming that he is a humanoid robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
, that is, a machine built to look like a human being. If this is true, the "Frankenstein complex
Frankenstein complex
In Isaac Asimov's robot novels, the Frankenstein complex is a term that he coined for the fear of mechanical men.-History:Some of Asimov's S.F...
" hysteria will ruin his campaign, as of course, only human beings are allowed to run for office. Quinn approaches U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men
U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men
The fictional corporation U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc. is the major manufacturer of robots in the 21st century in Isaac Asimov's Robot Series of novels and short stories....
corporation, the world's only supplier of positronic robot brains, and attempts to persuade them that Byerley must be a robot. No one has ever seen Byerley eat or sleep, Quinn reports.
All attempts to prove or disprove Byerley's humanity fail. He visits the U.S. Robots offices, where the Chief Robopsychologist
Robopsychology
Robopsychology is the study of the personalities of intelligent machines. The term and the concept were popularised by Isaac Asimov in the short stories collected in I, Robot, which featured robopsychologist Dr...
Susan Calvin
Susan Calvin
Dr. Susan Calvin is a fictional character from Isaac Asimov's Robot Series. She was the chief robopsychologist at US Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc., the major manufacturer of robots in the 21st century...
offers him an apple. Quite nonchalantly, Byerley takes a bite — proving nothing, since like R. Daneel Olivaw
R. Daneel Olivaw
R. Daneel Olivaw is a fictional robot created by Isaac Asimov. The "R" initial in his name stands for "robot," a naming convention in Asimov's future society...
, he may have been designed with an emergency stomach. Quinn attempts to take clandestine X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
photographs, but Byerley wears a device which fogs the camera. Through all these investigations, Byerley remains calm and smiling, pointing out that he is only upholding his civil rights, just as he would do for others if he is elected. His opponents claim that, as a robot, he has no civil rights, but Byerley counters that they must first prove that he is a robot, before they can deny his rights as a human — including his right not to submit to physical examination.
Once all physical means are exhausted, Susan Calvin indicates that they must turn to the psychological side. If Byerley is a robot, he must obey the Three Laws of Robotics
Three Laws of Robotics
The Three Laws of Robotics are a set of rules devised by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov and later added to. The rules are introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround", although they were foreshadowed in a few earlier stories...
. Were Byerley to violate one of the Laws, he would clearly be a human, since no robot can contradict its basic programming. However, if Byerley obeys the Laws, it still doesn't prove he is a robot, since the Laws were invented with human morality in mind. "He may simply be a very good man," observes Dr. Calvin.
Ironically, to prove himself to be a human being, Byerley must demonstrate that he is capable of harming a human. (This low-key and indirect satire is characteristic of Asimov's more political stories, another prime example being The Martian Way
The Martian Way
The Martian Way is a science fiction novella by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections The Martian Way and Other Stories , The Best of Isaac Asimov , and Robot Dreams...
and its attack upon McCarthyism
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
.)
Byerley never confirms or denies his flesh-and-blood status and lets the entire campaign ride on this single issue. While he is giving a speech, a heckler rushes the stage, and the heckler asks to be hit in the face. Byerley complies and punches the heckler in the face. Most people are convinced that he is human, and the emotional uproar demolishes Quinn's smear campaign. Byerley wins the election without further difficulty.
In the final scene, Susan Calvin confronts Byerley, who is again spending a late night awake. She says that she is somewhat regretful Byerley turned out human, because after all, a robot would make an ideal ruler, one incapable of cruelty or injustice. In an almost teasing speech, quite unlike her usual self, Dr. Calvin notes that there is one case, "just one", where a robot may avoid the First Law: when the "man" who is harmed is merely another humanoid robot. This implies that the heckler whom Byerley punched may have been a robot, and if that was the case, Byerley hadn't broken the First Law, leaving the question of his humanity open. At the end Dr. Calvin notes that Byerley had his body atomized upon his "death" thus wiping out any evidence either way.
Several earlier scenes interspersed through the story, in which Byerley meets with his old "teacher", now take on new significance.
As she leaves Byerley, Dr. Calvin promises to vote for him when he runs for national office. Asimov's later story The Evitable Conflict
The Evitable Conflict
The Evitable Conflict is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the June 1950 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and subsequently appeared in the collections I, Robot , The Complete Robot , and Robot Visions .-Plot summary:The "Machines", powerful positronic computers...
reveals that he prospers in politics, eventually becoming head of the planetary government.