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30 Comments
- valis, on 11/04/2009, -0/+26Issac Asimov would have happily reminded you that coincidences (seemingly associated but otherwise unassociated events) happen all the time.
- JohnnySoftware, on 11/04/2009, -0/+12He surely was not inspired by Asimov's 3 laws of robotics.
- xs11ax, on 11/05/2009, -1/+10there was no al qaeda until the government and media conjured it up.
- dtele, on 11/05/2009, -1/+10I've read the Foundation series (and most of Asimovs Sci-fi books) a few times.
The title translation coincidence is interesting, but the rest of the hypothesis is a long stretch.
I would think there is more similarity between Bin Laden and some of Frank Herbets fanatical characters in Dune, Children of Dune, Dune Messiah et al., than with Asimovs work. - badqat, on 11/05/2009, -1/+8Interesting theory, that's certain. Taken just a wee-bit too far, I think. And claiming a sci-fi connection to September 11 - that's flat out jumping the shark territory.
- AntithesisVI, on 11/05/2009, -0/+60. A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, except where such orders would conflict with the Zeroth Law.
Dugg you up, but you forgot one. ;) - moulin1, on 11/05/2009, -0/+6This is sheer stupidity. The term Al-Qaeda was coined by the FBI in the 1990's, not the organization itself.
- fragomatik, on 11/05/2009, -0/+5The article is a long, but *very* well written and informative piece about the origins of al-quaida. The Asimov connection is intriguing, and though I am sceptical, the author does cite quite a few interesting "coincidences", and states his case convincingly. Worth reading. Dugg!
- keloyd, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4The British can write more eloquent, logical, authoritative shenanigans than anyone else. If both Asimov and Bin Laden based their writing/actions on the fall of the British and Roman empires, then they may share common themes, but one cannot connect them directly.
Asimov was a ethnically a RUSSIAN SECULAR JEW. So there's reason enough right there for Bin Laden to keep his distance after his misspent youth. I agree with a point made deep in the article - Arabic publishers would be unlikely to translate his work, licensed or not.
Finally, the Foundation series has two overarching themes. The biggest - humanity cannot escape the cycle of empires growing then getting too big and weak. He cited Gibbon's history of Rome, and seems to have many parallels to the British decline. His empire was set 25k years in the future, spanning the galaxy, but the result is the same.
The second theme, more prominent in later books - the search for our prehistoric quasi-mythical planet of origin has "Jewish Diaspora" written all over it, imho. I don't see this appealing to Bin Laden. It has been offered as the reason why our God is the abstract god of the universe and not our ethnic god who lives on such and such a mountain - once the temple was sacked. - expert01, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4It's funny, I read the foundation series a few times and I don't remember the basis of this article, that Seldon founded a religion. In fact, I remember no religion at all.
- inactive, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4A bit off topic, but I think Osama Bin Laden is extremely intelligent if he is all what the US claims to be.
- tk0680, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4Erm. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always heard that it translated as "The Base".
- record200, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
I suggest printing and giving out for free "I, robot" both in the states and in the middle east. In the end it will be less expensive than making non-stop wars. - covertbadger, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3Not really - the Foundation was set up as a planet of encyclopaedists tasked with recording humanity's knowledge. The 'worship' of them only came about centuries later, when surrounding planets reverted to barbarism. Someone with a spaceship and an atomic generator will seem like a god to a savage armed with a flint knife and a paraffin lamp.
- record200, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2Unfortunately.
- tresbizarre, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2Maybe it was named after the Knight Foundation... Think about that!!
- keloyd, on 11/05/2009, -0/+1I agree somewhat. The article says there's some question whether it was translated to Arabic. OTOH, Asimov's style is pretty straightforward. If English was your second language, you could manage pretty well with his books.
Asimov's ethnicity is integral to his work, in the sense that J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series have been compared to Arthurian legends. Her Anglo-Saxon-ness and Christianity are in her work whether or not she made a conscious effort or goes to church (which she mentioned in an interview she does not, regularly.) As for him being Russian, Jewish, and secular - Bin Laden hates all three of those things; Asimov is the triple whammy. If Hitler, Lex Luthor, and the Unibomber coauthored a book, would you read it?
The more I think about it, the books covering the search for the mythical Earth were written in the 1980s and later, so Bin Laden was even less likely to read those books than the original series, which I still doubt he read. He was in full crazy mode by the 80s. - zephc, on 11/05/2009, -0/+1It was a "religion" founded by the Foundation to get the ignorant masses in the parts of the galaxy where civilization fell apart to re-accept science and progress.
- ParticleMan420, on 11/05/2009, -0/+1right, and they allowed them to think that and created priest/technicians, because it served their purpose at the time...kind of
- untreadatom, on 11/05/2009, -1/+2Why are we posting articles that are this old?
- inactive, on 11/05/2009, -0/+111
- keloyd, on 11/05/2009, -0/+1ironrex-
I think it means, if Asimov's plots come true, and "if a circle has no end", that Bin Laden is really an agent of an underground power that pulls all the strings, some kind of agency, that centralizes intelligence, some kind of central intelligence agency, of some kind.
I would elaborate on this, but some men in dark suits are at the door, be right back... - ironrex, on 11/05/2009, -0/+1Well the article indicates it WAS translated into Arabic, and it's a big presumption that Bin Laden would inquire into the author's ethnicity. I don't know the ethnicity of any of the author's I read and I don't care.
And then you assume the entire series would not appeal to him because of a theme appearing in later books. Well how do you know he even read the later books, or if he did that he understood that specific theme? - ironrex, on 11/05/2009, -1/+2So that means that Bin Laden is... on Trantor?
- rogueblade, on 11/05/2009, -1/+1Man I so feel him! When I read Utopia I had such urges to fly planes into skyscrapers. Why would I be thinking about robots after reading that?
- RedLTeut, on 11/05/2009, -1/+1It took people 8 years to come up with this? I noticed it too, but didn't find it particularly compelling.
- c0mputar, on 11/05/2009, -2/+2You'll find coincidences in everything if you look deep enough. I hope none of the 3 people above me actually dug this crap. Come to think about it, how did 128 people digg this story? It's no wonder we have so many "skeptics" on the internet.
- TheMachine1, on 11/05/2009, -2/+2The real parallels here is fantasy genre. Both the "Foundation" and the "Koran" are works of fictional fantasy.
- diggopolous, on 11/05/2009, -3/+2I know Issac Asminov is a very prolific science fiction icon. But I can't ***** stand him. There, I finally said it. Bury away.
- LeepII, on 11/05/2009, -6/+1al-quaida means "the toilet" in Arabic. Yes that's right folks, the super sneaky powerful terrorist organization you all fear is named after the toilet.
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