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Mike Donovan
A politician running for mayoral office in “Evidence.” His political opponent, Francis Quinn, accuses him of being a robot. Quinn employs Calvin and Lanning to investigate the situation, citing that Byerley never eats, drinks, or sleeps. Though Calvin agrees that Byerley is a robot, she is never able to prove it. Byerley eats an apple in front of the roboticists, though this doesn’t prove anything—Calvin says that he could simply be a very advanced robot. Byerley also does several things that make them question his innocence: he actively prevents them from taking X-rays of his insides to see if he is a robot, and he also lives with a paralyzed teacher of his named John, whom Quinn claims is the real Stephen Byerley. Ultimately, Byerley is able to convince the public that he is human by hitting another person and violating the First Law, and thus wins the election. However, Calvin later argues that the person he hit could also have been a robot, which would have allowed him to avoid breaking the First Law. Byerley’s case proves just how advanced the robots have become, and also how they can be more ethical than humans, since Quinn ironically goes to unethical lengths in his attempts to prove that Byerley is a robot. In the following story, “The Evitable Conflict,” Byerley has become a World Coordinator and works with Calvin once more to try and deduce errors in the Machines that regulate the world’s economy.
Stephen Byerley Quotes in I, Robot
The I, Robot quotes below are all either spoken by Stephen Byerley or refer to Stephen Byerley. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Evidence
Quotes
“Actions such as his could come only from a robot, or from a very honorable and decent human being. But you see, you just can’t differentiate between a robot and the very best of humans.”
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“I like robots. I like them considerably better than I do human beings. If a robot can be created capable of being a civil executive, I think he’d make the best one possible. By the Laws of Robotics, he’d be incapable of harming humans, incapable of tyranny, of corruption, of stupidity, of prejudice.” […]
“Except that a robot might fail due to the inherent inadequacies of his brain. The positronic brain has never equalled the complexities of the human brain.”
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The Evitable Conflict
Quotes
“Very well, then, Stephen, what harms humanity? Economic dislocations most of all, from whatever cause. Wouldn’t you say so?”
“I would.”
“And what is most likely in the future to cause economic dislocations? Answer that, Stephen.”
“I should say,” replied Byerley, unwillingly, “the destruction of the Machines.”
“And so should I say, and so should the Machines say. Their first care, therefore, is to preserve themselves, for us.”
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“But you are telling me, Susan, that the ‘Society for Humanity’ is right; and that Mankind has lost its own say in its future.”
“It never had any, really. It was always at the mercy of economic and sociological forces it did not understand—at the whims of climate, and the fortunes of war.” […]
“How horrible!”
“Perhaps how wonderful! Think, that for all time, all conflicts are finally evitable. Only the Machines, from now on, are inevitable!”
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Stephen Byerley Quotes in I, Robot
The I, Robot quotes below are all either spoken by Stephen Byerley or refer to Stephen Byerley. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Evidence
Quotes
“Actions such as his could come only from a robot, or from a very honorable and decent human being. But you see, you just can’t differentiate between a robot and the very best of humans.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“I like robots. I like them considerably better than I do human beings. If a robot can be created capable of being a civil executive, I think he’d make the best one possible. By the Laws of Robotics, he’d be incapable of harming humans, incapable of tyranny, of corruption, of stupidity, of prejudice.” […]
“Except that a robot might fail due to the inherent inadequacies of his brain. The positronic brain has never equalled the complexities of the human brain.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The Evitable Conflict
Quotes
“Very well, then, Stephen, what harms humanity? Economic dislocations most of all, from whatever cause. Wouldn’t you say so?”
“I would.”
“And what is most likely in the future to cause economic dislocations? Answer that, Stephen.”
“I should say,” replied Byerley, unwillingly, “the destruction of the Machines.”
“And so should I say, and so should the Machines say. Their first care, therefore, is to preserve themselves, for us.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
“But you are telling me, Susan, that the ‘Society for Humanity’ is right; and that Mankind has lost its own say in its future.”
“It never had any, really. It was always at the mercy of economic and sociological forces it did not understand—at the whims of climate, and the fortunes of war.” […]
“How horrible!”
“Perhaps how wonderful! Think, that for all time, all conflicts are finally evitable. Only the Machines, from now on, are inevitable!”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
