I'm now listening to Isac Asimov's The Naked Sun on audio book. The grumbling, pipe-smoking protagonist is back with his robotic partner working on yet another murder case, this time on a distant world wholly dependent on their robot servants. Oh, and he's still saying Jehoshaphat!
Apparently, in the future, it is not uncommon to condescend to robots by referring to them with the insulting term 'boy'. As in, 'Boy, get me some water,' or 'What is it, boy?' or even 'Listen to me, boy.'
That smacks of racism, doesn't it? The book takes place in the far future but I am amazed how much the future seems to mirror a plantation frrm pre-civil war days only this time the robots are the slaves.
Maybe the author meant to draw that comparison. Maybe it was intentional. Or maybe in addition to be an eccentric claustrophile, and Aviatophobic, Asimov was also racist and I just hadn't heard about it.
I guess, when you think about it, that doesn't really qualify as racism. Prejudice against robots isn't really based on skin color. It's probably more technophobia.
(I'm still fascinated by phobias. www.phobialist.com)
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