Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"This category [science fiction] excludes rocket ships that make U-turns, serpent men of Neptune that lust after human maidens, and stories by authors who flunked their Boy Scout merit badge tests in descriptive astronomy."
- Robert Heinlein
 |
| Unit Analyst Robot | ||
| A robotic psychoanalyst. |
Don Walsh doesn't seem to fit into society. In his country, the Purists argue that fresh breath and a clean smell are important; so important that the Purists are pushing a five-point plan including forced surgical removal of sweat glands, breath control, teeth-whitening and hair-restorer. The Naturalists, on the other hand, believe that this society was built from the ground up by red-blooded men who sweated and are proud of it.
Don, on the other hand, wasn't really worked up by either side. Unfortunately, the Purists were gaining the upper hand, and their surgical requirements were about to become law.
Don decides to talk it over with a unit analyst - a psychoanalyst robot.
| He could see the analyst within the inner chamber. It sat immobile and silent, in the dark shadows of evening. Nobody was consulting it; the analyst was turned off... The presence of his body closed relays and switches; abruptly the lights of the inner office winked on and the analyst itself sat up, smiled and half-rose to its feet.
"Don," it called heartily. "Come on in and sit down..." He appealed to the quasi-human face of metal and plastic. "you can see this undistorted, Charley. How can I join one of the parties? All their slogans and propaganda... The robot had clicked off; it was fading into darkness and silence, elbows still resting on the desk... The powercord that was the robot's umbilicus had a white-plastic tag wired to it. In the semi-gloom he could make out the printed words. |
| Technovelgy from The Chromium Fence,
by Philip K. Dick. Published by Imagination Magazine in 1955 Additional resources -
|
If you like robot psychiatrists, you'll certainly want to have sessions with Dr. Smile and Sigfrid von Shrink.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Chromium Fence
More Ideas
and Technology by Philip K. Dick
Tech news articles related to The Chromium Fence
Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick
| Will Robots Become Family Caregivers? |
| RoboBallet The Dance Of Cooperative Robots |
| Does CloneRobotics Offer A True Android? |
| Robots Repair And Modify Themselves |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'The robant and the tiny old woman entered the control room slowly...'
'Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs... What are the odds?'
'It is as you thought when you constructed the time crystal, my master Vaylan.'
'This was their world, their planet — this swift-traveling, yet seemingly moveless vessel.'
'Gaines and Harvey mounted tumblebugs, and kept abreast of the Cadet Captain...'
