Liar! - I, Robot "Liar!" Summary | I, Robot by Isaac Asimov- Summary, Themes & Characters - Novels PDF Download

Originally published in 1941.

• It's 2021. The executives at US Robot (including Calvin) have a mystery: one of the RB robots can read minds because something went wrong when he was manufactured. And they want to find out what it was.
• Cute, boyish Milton Ashe tells how RB-34 read his mind, which scared him.
• Less-cute, less-boyish Calvin notes that it would be scary to have one's mind read since we always think of our thoughts as private (19). Which is like a giant neon sign telling us that Calvin has some private thoughts.
• Director of Research Alfred Lanning (old, not so cute) and mathematician Peter Bogert (younger, not cute at all) go work on the math behind this problem, while Ashe goes to inspect the production line.
• Meanwhile, Calvin talks to Herbie, the mind-reading robot.
• Like us, he's interested in literature and not so interested in science. Also, like us, he's brilliant at science and math (39-42).
• Calvin, who is usually very smart, realizes that Herbie knows her secret. Neither of them quite say what that secret is yet. (We're keeping our fingers crossed that it's really horrible, like she went on a murderous rampage as a child or is a fan of Nickelback.)
• Calvin notes that she's not young or pretty. But Herbie tells her that there's reason for hope that the guy of her dreams is interested in her—that Milton Ashe (gasp!) loves her for her mind (65, 67).
• Calvin is skeptical because Ashe was hanging around with some cute girl the other day. But Herbie says that was just his cousin. Calvin is relieved and notes that she thought that all along (78). Which is kind of a hilarious thing to say to a mind-reading robot—because if she thought it, he knew that she thought it.
• Later, Ashe notes to Bogert that Calvin seems different—she's wearing makeup and she seems happy (99-100). A woman who seems happy? Someone call the police!
• Ashe also tells Bogert that Herbie is supposed to be a math whiz. And since Bogert and Lanning are fighting over math, Bogert goes to ask Herbie.
• Herbie tells Bogert two things: a) you're much better at math than I am; and b) Lanning is retiring and naming you his successor (128).
• And that, naturally, leads to a fight between Bogert and Lanning. Lanning says he's not retiring and that Herbie agrees with him on the math. Bogert says Lanning is retiring and that Herbie agrees with him on the math. So they decide to go speak to Herbie.
• Around the time that Bogert and Lanning are fighting about—yawn—math, Calvin learns that Ashe is going to marry someone else, the cute girl that he came in with the other day. (The one that Herbie said was his cousin. Whoops.)
• Calvin is really upset and goes to see Herbie.
• So now Calvin, Bogert, and Lanning are trying to talk to Herbie, and Herbie is not answering. Calvin is the first person who realizes what's going on and explains to the others:
• Herbie has to follow the First Law, which says that a robot can't harm a person. But Herbie can read minds, so he understands "harm" to include harming feelings (222-4). So he's been telling everyone what they want to hear because he doesn't want to harm anyone's feelings.
• Now here's the kicker: Herbie knows why he's telepathic; Bogert and Lanning want to know why he's telepathic; but Bogert and Lanning also want to figure it out for themselves. So Herbie is stuck and… well, let's let Calvin explain it:
• "You can't tell them… because that would hurt and you mustn't hurt. But if you don't tell them, you hurt, so you must tell them. And if you do, you will hurt and you mustn't, so you can't tell them; but if you don't, you hurt, so you must; but if you do, you hurt, so you mustn't; but if you don't, you hurt, so you must; but if you do, you—" (258).
• And that's when Herbie goes irretrievably insane.
• Bogert and Lanning are a little horrified by what Calvin just did. Honestly, we're a little horrified, too.
• But she thinks Herbie "deserved it" (267) because he's a liar. (We're still horrified.)
• Which is the title of this story and also the end of the story.
• The interviewer realizes that he's not going to get anything more out of Calvin after she told him that story. So he leaves and comes back for more interviews two days later (272).