Reason (short story) By Isaac Asimov [Part1/4]

"Reason" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov that was first published in the April 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and collected in I, Robot (1950), The Complete Robot (1982), and Robot Visions (1990). It is part of Asimov's Robot Series, and was the second of Asimov's positronic robot stories to see publication.

In 1967, this short story was adapted into an episode of British television series Out of the Unknown entitled "The Prophet".

Plot

Powell and Donovan are assigned to a space station which supplies energy via microwave beams to the planets. The robots that control the energy beams are in turn co-ordinated by QT1, known to Powell and Donovan as Cutie, an advanced model with highly developed reasoning ability. Using these abilities, it decides that space, stars and the planets beyond the station don't really exist, and that the humans that visit the station are unimportant, short-lived and expendable. It invents its own religion, serving the power source of the ship (Master), concluding that it must become the Prophet of the Master and disregard human commands as inferior....

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=2FA31FC4B426806D

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[nihildomini]

Possibly one of the best short stories ever written.

[smellincoffee]

"Reason" is one of Asimov's funnier stories, though I don't know if he intended it that way.