A few months ago the posthumous autobiography was republished in Spanish I, Asimov, from the author who anticipated many of the situations we are experiencing today. Beyond his achievements in the field of science fiction and popularization, from the trajectory of this visionary we can extract very human lessons for our daily lives, in a world that increasingly resembles that of his novels.
The only way to change an adverse destiny is to rebel against it. Isaac Asimov emigrated from Russia to New York at the age of three. His condition as a foreigner and a Jew, with parents who ran a candy store without speaking English, seemed to condemn him to menial jobs. Ridiculed and ignored by his classmates, he set out to outdo them all. When the others played, he read and educated himself incessantly. Turned into a bookworm, he managed to be the best student in his school.
No matter how good you are, others will always surpass you.. After school success, in high school he was no longer the best, but he was among the 10 most outstanding students. At the university he was passing the course, becoming one more. This gave him humility, as well as the ability to admire and learn from authors he considered to be better than himself. Only if you know that you have surpassed yourself, you will be able to surpass yourself.
Losing teaches more than winning. Asimov recounts only once putting aside his aversion to gambling to join a game of poker with some college buddies, after promising that the stakes would be very low. When he confessed to his father what he had done, he asked him: “How did it go?”, To which he replied: “I lost 15 cents.” His parent, knowing the addictive power of the game, then declared: “Thank God. Imagine if you had won them!”
Friends are your crew to reach other worlds. After a lonely childhood and adolescence, his life changed radically when he joined the Futurians, a circle of science fiction fans, some of whom became renowned writers. This group supported and empowered him to write and publish his first stories in specialized magazines. In turn, finding like-minded people made him an outgoing man who, in his own words, when allowed to lead the conversation, “didn’t let anyone be shy.” He would keep in touch with these friends until his death in 1992.
Help those who are less lucky or talented than you. After early encouragement from aspiring writers like himself, Asimov was well aware that his achievements had placed him in a privileged position. For this reason, whenever he received letters from friends in difficulties he would send them small sums so they could get by. In addition to having a good income from his works – he would go on to publish more than 500 books – Asimov attributed his good financial health to the fact that he did not gamble, smoke or drink. In his opinion: “If you don’t have vices, there will always be money in your pocket.”
A person is worth the use he makes of his time. To help his parents, Asimov had combined his studies with long hours working in the family business. Being a renowned author, he continued to keep that schedule throughout his life, as he recounts in his autobiography: “I wake up at five in the morning. I get to work as soon and as much as I can. I do this every day of the week, including holidays (…). In other words, I’m still always at the candy store.” Since he squeezed the hours to do the things he liked the most, for him it was not sacrifice, but “overflowing happiness.”
There is no trip more joyful than reading. The author of I, Asimov says: “If I want to evoke peace, serenity and pleasure, I think of myself during those lazy summer afternoons, with the chair leaning against the wall, the book on my lap and gently turning the pages.” ”. Despite all the honors received throughout his life, which forced him to travel often and meet great personalities, he always associated “calm and restful happiness” with the act of reading. Whoever made us dream of prodigious intergalactic ships knew that there is no more powerful vehicle than a book that comes to life thanks to the human mind.
humans and robots
— The author of I robot (1950) applied three laws of robotics to their works on the subject. 1. A robot will not harm a human being, nor by inaction allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must comply with the orders given by human beings, except for those that conflict with the first law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence to the extent that this protection does not conflict with the first or second law.
— What would Asimov have thought of the irruption of ChatGPT and the like? In one story, the author states that a machine does not turn against its creator if it is well designed.
— Always positive about everything to do with technology, Asimov predicted a humanity liberated from all jobs with sophisticated machines as servants, which would lead to a new Renaissance.
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