Isaac Asimov based his two stories, the “Segregationist” and “The Feeling of Power,” in a futuristic time on Earth. In the “Segregationist,” he depicts a surgeon who expresses that human and robots should not become one kind of species. In “The Feeling of Power,” he tells the story of humans that depend on computers too much. Asimov is portraying to us that human nature consists of behaviors such as being discriminative, over-relying on technology, and that humans are always unsatisfied with ourselves.
In both of these stories, discriminatory behavior is shown through some of the characters. The surgeon, in the “Segregationist,” believes that humans and robots, also known as Metallos, should not hybridize themselves using each others’ parts. He disagrees with the med-eng, who supports the merging between the two types of citizens. The prejudiced surgeon’s opinion of hybrids being mongrels caused him to be called a segregationist by the med-eng. As for the scientific leaders in “The Feeling of Power,” they think they are better and more powerful than the ones who did not pass the standardized tests. Also, they treat the lower-class, like Myron Aub, as servants and inferior to them. Another example is that Programmer Shuman, Congressman Brant, and General Weider did not believe in Aub’s ability to do mathematical problems on paper. They thought that it was impossible that the powerful people finds mathematical questions “incalculable” without checking it on a computer, but Aub, a technician who did not pass the computer-made test, can simply solve it on paper (172). And once they truly realized that Aub’s ability is useful, they made an initiative to order and direct Aub to use his ability to help with Project Number and their inhumane schemes. Therefore, both of these stories portray how people can be discriminatory towards those they view as inferior.
Even as we are shown as being discriminatory, our feelings of inadequacy and wanting more are also displayed in these two stories. In the “Segregationist,” both of the two types of citizens, humans and Metallos, which are the robots, are fascinated of each other’s structures. For example, the receding human patient that the surgeon treated insists for a metallic cyber-heart of a Metallo. The humans yearn for the physical strength and endurance of the Metallos, and it has turned into a mania that is “plaguing humanity” ever since the robots have become citizens of Earth (5). In the same way, the last two Metallos that the med-eng repaired asked for human parts. One Metallo asks for a matter of supplying tendons and the other wants a blood system like a human’s. Similarly, in “The Feeling of Power,” the President of the Terrestrial Federation, Programmer Shuman, Congressman Brant, General Weider, and probably others who are in power wanted to use Myron Aub’s discovery, the power of the human mind, to win the galactic war against Deneb, a foreign planet trying to defeat Earth. Deneb is also using computer-controlled weapons, so Earth and Deneb are equally powerful. The people in power figured out that using manned missile instead of computer-directed missiles could have a better chance of defeating Deneb. That is, Asimov is showing us how even in the future, humans would still long for what others have, and that we would still be unsatisfied after.
In a similar way as humans being are discriminatory and we are always being inadequate with our bodies and wanting to change them, Asimov shows how technology can take over our lives. For example in the “Segregationist,” Metallos are now working as if they were humans, like the Metallo surgeon that treats patients, and humans can depend on him. Likewise in “The Feeling of Power,” Earth is consumed by the technology of computers that humans have lost their ability to think for themselves and allowed computers to make their life important decisions. As an example, Congressman Brant had to check his computer when Aub was calculating the math problem in his head. He didn’t have the knowledge because he has never had the chance to learn it himself; therefore he is one of the many slaves on Earth to the computers. The society in Earth is classified according to standardized tests that the computers make. The ones who do not pass are considered in the lower-class of the society. For example, the intelligent Programmer Shuman is first-class, while Aub is classified as a “low-grade Technician” because he didn’t pass but he is still smart, since he has rediscovered the long lost human ability (169).The Earth, as well as their enemy planet Deneb, use computer-controlled weapons to destroy each other because the computers say that they have more advantage than the other planet. So, it is like what Asimov predicts in his two stories, humans now and in the future will have a chance of their lives being taken over by technology. Humans cannot fully change their nature, no matter how horrible they are. In the future, humans should try to improve ourselves and not look at others’ wrong. We can do this by not judging others when we also have our own flaws, and we should learn how to be more independent. Another way is to not be selfish, and be thankful for what we already have when others are less fortunate. So by doing these, humans can correct some of their attitudes and actions, and be a good impression for the new generations.