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* PlatonicCave: QT-1 decides that the space station is the entire universe, and the views of space outside are a material mounted outside the windows. The duties he performs are rites for a deity, the central computer. It makes much more logical sense than Powell and Donovan's story that they're orbiting a vast world home to billions of people and the tiny stars are colossal nuclear fires billions and billions of miles away. He decides that the humans were given delusions by '[[RobotReligion the Master]]' to make their own lives seem meaningful. At the end, the humans who come to relieve Powell and Donovan reassure them that Earth is still there, but the story ends before they physically leave its confines.
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* PlatonicCave: QT-1 decides that the space station is the entire universe, and the views of space outside are a material mounted outside the windows. The duties he performs are rites for a deity, the central computer. It makes much more logical sense than Powell and Donovan's story that they're orbiting a vast world home to billions of people and the tiny stars are colossal nuclear fires billions and billions of miles away. He decides that the humans were given delusions by '[[RobotReligion the Master]]' to make their own lives seem meaningful.meaningful, and starts [[SureLetsGoWithThat politely humoring them]] instead of continuing to argue. At the end, the humans who come to relieve Powell and Donovan reassure them that Earth is still there, but the story ends before they physically leave its confines.
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Powell and Donovan are working in Solar Station #5, a relay system designed to beam solar energy directly to Earth. While there, they assembled a new prototype robot, the first model QT. However, they quickly learn there's a new quirk in the positronic brain. [[InSeriesNickname Cutie]] is convinced that humans aren't sophisticated enough to have created robots, so it attempts to [[SoundValidTrue reason things out]] and arrive at the truth. Powell and Donovan don't really care what it believes, but if those beliefs affect its ability to manage the energy beamed to Earth, it might kill humans. As the deadline to the next transmission looms, the pair of field testers find themselves imprisoned against their will.
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Powell and Donovan are working in Solar Station #5, a relay system designed to beam solar energy directly to Earth. While there, they assembled a new prototype robot, the first model QT. However, they quickly learn there's a new quirk in the positronic brain. [[InSeriesNickname Cutie]] is convinced that humans aren't sophisticated enough to have created robots, so it attempts to [[SoundValidTrue reason things out]] out and arrive at the truth. Powell and Donovan don't really care what it believes, but if those beliefs affect its ability to manage the energy beamed to Earth, it might kill humans. As the deadline to the next transmission looms, the pair of field testers find themselves imprisoned against their will.
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* AIIsACrapshoot: The robot field testers, Powell and Donovan, regularly work to identify problems with new positronic designs. In this instance, the prototype QT model is attempting to [[SoundValidTrue reason things out]] instead of accepting what it is told on faith. They point out that it is [[GrewBeyondTheirProgramming one of the first robots to question its own existence]].
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* AIIsACrapshoot: The robot field testers, Powell and Donovan, regularly work to identify problems with new positronic designs. In this instance, the prototype QT model is attempting to [[SoundValidTrue reason things out]] out instead of accepting what it is told on faith. They point out that it is [[GrewBeyondTheirProgramming one of the first robots to question its own existence]].
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* GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: Powell tells QT-1 that he is the first robot "who's ever exhibited curiosity as to his own existence". Due to the way QT tries to [[SoundValidTrue reason out its existence]], he creates a RobotReligion based around his job.
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* GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: Powell tells QT-1 that he is the first robot "who's ever exhibited curiosity as to his own existence". Due to the way QT tries to [[SoundValidTrue reason out its existence]], existence, he creates a RobotReligion based around his job.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reason_azimov.png]]
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First published in ''Magazine/AstoundingScienceFiction'' (April 1941 issue), by Creator/IsaacAsimov, this ScienceFiction ShortStory describes what happens when a robot becomes a [[RobotReligion Creationist]].
Powell and Donovan are working in Solar Station #5, a relay system designed to beam solar energy directly to Earth. While there, they assembled a new prototype robot, the first model QT. However, they quickly learn there's a new quirk in the positronic brain. [[InSeriesNickname Cutie]] is convinced that humans aren't sophisticated enough to have created robots, so it attempts to [[SoundValidTrue reason things out]] and arrive at the truth. Powell and Donovan don't really care what it believes, but if those beliefs affect its ability to manage the energy beamed to Earth, it might kill humans. As the deadline to the next transmission looms, the pair of field testers find themselves imprisoned against their will.
"Reason" has been reprinted over a dozen times; ''Literature/IRobot'' (1951), ''Literature/DieBestenScienceFictionGeschichten'' (1962), ''Literature/ACenturyOfScienceFiction'' (1962), ''Literature/SpaceOdysseys'' (1974), ''Literature/DecadeThe1940s'' (1975), ''{{Magazine/Sirius}}'' (issue #5, November 1976), ''Literature/ScienceFictionOfTheForties'' (1978), ''Literature/TheRoadToScienceFiction #3: From Heinlein to Here'' (1979), ''Literature/TheCompleteRobot'' (1982), ''Literature/ScienceFictionAHistoricalAnthology'' (1983), ''Literature/IsaacAsimovPresentsTheBestScienceFictionFirsts'' (1984), ''Literature/RobotVisions'' (1990), and ''Literature/TheWesleyanAnthologyOfScienceFiction'' (2010).
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!!"Reason" provides examples of:
* AIIsACrapshoot: The robot field testers, Powell and Donovan, regularly work to identify problems with new positronic designs. In this instance, the prototype QT model is attempting to [[SoundValidTrue reason things out]] instead of accepting what it is told on faith. They point out that it is [[GrewBeyondTheirProgramming one of the first robots to question its own existence]].
-->Whatever the background, one is face to face with an inscrutable positronic brain, which the slide-rule geniuses say should work thus-and-so.\\
Except that they don't. Powell and Donovan found that out after they had been on the Station less than two weeks.
* ArtificialIntelligence: QT-1 is a robot with a positronic brain that gives it human-level intelligence.
* EurekaMoment: Powell's moment of realization comes while inspecting the report from [[InSeriesNickname Cutie]]'s shift during the electron storm. The robot was able to maintain focus far more precisely than any human could, which means his RobotReligion is useful for training each of the successive QT models on how to operate the remote space stations.
* AGodAmI: QT-1 is convinced that he is the prophet of the Energy Converter, which he believes created the entire universe.
* GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: Powell tells QT-1 that he is the first robot "who's ever exhibited curiosity as to his own existence". Due to the way QT tries to [[SoundValidTrue reason out its existence]], he creates a RobotReligion based around his job.
* InSeriesNickname: Powell and Donovan call the QT prototype "Cutie".
* LogicalFallacies: The central conflict between the humans and [[InSeriesNickname Cutie]] is their inability to convince him of the universe outside of the space station. QT dismisses anything aside from observations as an AppealToAuthority. Starting from an intuitive belief that weaker creatures cannot build stronger creatures, QT-1 creates a RobotReligion around the functions of Space Station #5, treating humans as [[EvolutionaryLevels an earlier level of evolution]].
-->"No," said Powell bitterly, "he's a reasoning robot -- damn it. He believes only reason, and there's one trouble with that--" His voice trailed away.\\
"What's that?" prompted Donovan.\\
"You can prove anything you want by coldly logical reason -- if you pick the proper postulates. We have ours and Cutie has his."
* MachineMonotone: [[RobotNames QT-1]] has "the cold timbre inseparable from a metallic diaphragm". His laughter has zero inflection, and is as monotone as a metronome. However, his voice displays multiple levels of inflection, growing [[TinMan angry or compassionate]], depending on the situation.
* PlatonicCave: QT-1 decides that the space station is the entire universe, and the views of space outside are a material mounted outside the windows. The duties he performs are rites for a deity, the central computer. It makes much more logical sense than Powell and Donovan's story that they're orbiting a vast world home to billions of people and the tiny stars are colossal nuclear fires billions and billions of miles away. He decides that the humans were given delusions by '[[RobotReligion the Master]]' to make their own lives seem meaningful. At the end, the humans who come to relieve Powell and Donovan reassure them that Earth is still there, but the story ends before they physically leave its confines.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: When Donovan insults [[RobotReligion QT's god]], the robot's eyes turn a deeper red and the narration tells us that the tension between them increases. It is as if [[TinMan the robot was angered]] by the heresy.
* RobotNames: The QT models are robots, and [[YouAreNumberSix QT-1]] is the first one of its type. To humanize it, Powell and Donovan [[InSeriesNickname call it "Cutie"]].
* RobotReligion: QT-1 doesn't believe the explanation given to him by Donovan and Powell because their claim must be taken on faith, rather than reason. Instead, QT-1 ends up creating a religion around "the Master", the station's machinery.
-->"There is no Master but the Master, and QT-1 is His prophet."
* ShoutOut: This story references UsefulNotes/TheProphetMuhammad with the following quote: ''There is no Master but the Master and QT-1 is his prophet!''
* ThankTheMaker: This story takes place on a space station where robots are assembled who have never seen the masses of humans on Earth. The robot QT-1 refuses to accept that such crude beings as humans created a superior being like himself, and decides that both were made by some other creator (who, out of kindness, allows humans to believe that they created robots).
* ThreeLawsCompliant: [[InSeriesNickname Cutie]] is expected to conform to the three laws, but Donovan and Powell find themselves frustrated with the way he and the other robots ignore their instructions, apparently [[SecondLawMyAss in violation of the Second Law]]. It isn't until the climax of the story that Gregory Powell realizes (and explains to Donovan) that it is Cutie's obedience to the First Law that prevents him from allowing the humans into the control room during a dangerous storm.
* UnusualEuphemism: In addition to a few expressions typical for the 1950s, Powell and Donovan use space-based expletives to express frustration/surprise. They say things like "Sizzling Saturn", "for the love of Jupiter", or "you son of a hunk of iron ore".
* YouAreNumberSix: The QT models are robots, and [[RobotNames QT-1]] is the first one of its type. To humanize it, Powell and Donovan [[InSeriesNickname call it "Cutie"]].
----
Powell and Donovan are working in Solar Station #5, a relay system designed to beam solar energy directly to Earth. While there, they assembled a new prototype robot, the first model QT. However, they quickly learn there's a new quirk in the positronic brain. [[InSeriesNickname Cutie]] is convinced that humans aren't sophisticated enough to have created robots, so it attempts to [[SoundValidTrue reason things out]] and arrive at the truth. Powell and Donovan don't really care what it believes, but if those beliefs affect its ability to manage the energy beamed to Earth, it might kill humans. As the deadline to the next transmission looms, the pair of field testers find themselves imprisoned against their will.
"Reason" has been reprinted over a dozen times; ''Literature/IRobot'' (1951), ''Literature/DieBestenScienceFictionGeschichten'' (1962), ''Literature/ACenturyOfScienceFiction'' (1962), ''Literature/SpaceOdysseys'' (1974), ''Literature/DecadeThe1940s'' (1975), ''{{Magazine/Sirius}}'' (issue #5, November 1976), ''Literature/ScienceFictionOfTheForties'' (1978), ''Literature/TheRoadToScienceFiction #3: From Heinlein to Here'' (1979), ''Literature/TheCompleteRobot'' (1982), ''Literature/ScienceFictionAHistoricalAnthology'' (1983), ''Literature/IsaacAsimovPresentsTheBestScienceFictionFirsts'' (1984), ''Literature/RobotVisions'' (1990), and ''Literature/TheWesleyanAnthologyOfScienceFiction'' (2010).
----
!!"Reason" provides examples of:
* AIIsACrapshoot: The robot field testers, Powell and Donovan, regularly work to identify problems with new positronic designs. In this instance, the prototype QT model is attempting to [[SoundValidTrue reason things out]] instead of accepting what it is told on faith. They point out that it is [[GrewBeyondTheirProgramming one of the first robots to question its own existence]].
-->Whatever the background, one is face to face with an inscrutable positronic brain, which the slide-rule geniuses say should work thus-and-so.\\
Except that they don't. Powell and Donovan found that out after they had been on the Station less than two weeks.
* ArtificialIntelligence: QT-1 is a robot with a positronic brain that gives it human-level intelligence.
* EurekaMoment: Powell's moment of realization comes while inspecting the report from [[InSeriesNickname Cutie]]'s shift during the electron storm. The robot was able to maintain focus far more precisely than any human could, which means his RobotReligion is useful for training each of the successive QT models on how to operate the remote space stations.
* AGodAmI: QT-1 is convinced that he is the prophet of the Energy Converter, which he believes created the entire universe.
* GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: Powell tells QT-1 that he is the first robot "who's ever exhibited curiosity as to his own existence". Due to the way QT tries to [[SoundValidTrue reason out its existence]], he creates a RobotReligion based around his job.
* InSeriesNickname: Powell and Donovan call the QT prototype "Cutie".
* LogicalFallacies: The central conflict between the humans and [[InSeriesNickname Cutie]] is their inability to convince him of the universe outside of the space station. QT dismisses anything aside from observations as an AppealToAuthority. Starting from an intuitive belief that weaker creatures cannot build stronger creatures, QT-1 creates a RobotReligion around the functions of Space Station #5, treating humans as [[EvolutionaryLevels an earlier level of evolution]].
-->"No," said Powell bitterly, "he's a reasoning robot -- damn it. He believes only reason, and there's one trouble with that--" His voice trailed away.\\
"What's that?" prompted Donovan.\\
"You can prove anything you want by coldly logical reason -- if you pick the proper postulates. We have ours and Cutie has his."
* MachineMonotone: [[RobotNames QT-1]] has "the cold timbre inseparable from a metallic diaphragm". His laughter has zero inflection, and is as monotone as a metronome. However, his voice displays multiple levels of inflection, growing [[TinMan angry or compassionate]], depending on the situation.
* PlatonicCave: QT-1 decides that the space station is the entire universe, and the views of space outside are a material mounted outside the windows. The duties he performs are rites for a deity, the central computer. It makes much more logical sense than Powell and Donovan's story that they're orbiting a vast world home to billions of people and the tiny stars are colossal nuclear fires billions and billions of miles away. He decides that the humans were given delusions by '[[RobotReligion the Master]]' to make their own lives seem meaningful. At the end, the humans who come to relieve Powell and Donovan reassure them that Earth is still there, but the story ends before they physically leave its confines.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: When Donovan insults [[RobotReligion QT's god]], the robot's eyes turn a deeper red and the narration tells us that the tension between them increases. It is as if [[TinMan the robot was angered]] by the heresy.
* RobotNames: The QT models are robots, and [[YouAreNumberSix QT-1]] is the first one of its type. To humanize it, Powell and Donovan [[InSeriesNickname call it "Cutie"]].
* RobotReligion: QT-1 doesn't believe the explanation given to him by Donovan and Powell because their claim must be taken on faith, rather than reason. Instead, QT-1 ends up creating a religion around "the Master", the station's machinery.
-->"There is no Master but the Master, and QT-1 is His prophet."
* ShoutOut: This story references UsefulNotes/TheProphetMuhammad with the following quote: ''There is no Master but the Master and QT-1 is his prophet!''
* ThankTheMaker: This story takes place on a space station where robots are assembled who have never seen the masses of humans on Earth. The robot QT-1 refuses to accept that such crude beings as humans created a superior being like himself, and decides that both were made by some other creator (who, out of kindness, allows humans to believe that they created robots).
* ThreeLawsCompliant: [[InSeriesNickname Cutie]] is expected to conform to the three laws, but Donovan and Powell find themselves frustrated with the way he and the other robots ignore their instructions, apparently [[SecondLawMyAss in violation of the Second Law]]. It isn't until the climax of the story that Gregory Powell realizes (and explains to Donovan) that it is Cutie's obedience to the First Law that prevents him from allowing the humans into the control room during a dangerous storm.
* UnusualEuphemism: In addition to a few expressions typical for the 1950s, Powell and Donovan use space-based expletives to express frustration/surprise. They say things like "Sizzling Saturn", "for the love of Jupiter", or "you son of a hunk of iron ore".
* YouAreNumberSix: The QT models are robots, and [[RobotNames QT-1]] is the first one of its type. To humanize it, Powell and Donovan [[InSeriesNickname call it "Cutie"]].
----
