How we cite our quotes: (Story title.paragraph)
Quote #7
"Original impressionment is not everything," Calvin snarled at him. "Robots have learning capacity, you... you fool—" And Bogert knew that she had really lost her temper. She continued hastily, "Don't you suppose he could tell from the tone used that the words weren't complimentary? Don't you suppose he's heard the words used before and noted upon what occasions?" (Little Lost Robot.124)
We brought this quote out because we love that Calvin's version of "strong language" is to call someone a fool, but also because Calvin lays out clearly what we were talking about in the previous quote: robots understand language, but they also understand other aspects of communication through speech—they understand slang and tone. If you've ever tried to communicate with a machine on the phone (you know, the type that says, "say 'pay bill' if you want to pay a bill" and then never hears you correctly), you can see how advanced these robots are.
Quote #8
"When we come to a sheet which means damage, even maybe death, don't get excited. You see, Brain, in this case, we don't mind—not even about death; we don't mind at all." (Escape.48)
OK, so Calvin is usually right and smart, even if it takes her some time to figure out what's going on. But here she falls into the same problems that keep fouling up people's plans with robots: she's not careful about what she says. She tells Brain that humans don't mind death, so Brain figures that it's OK to kill humans temporarily. Of course, this ends with a positive turn of events—thanks to this, Brain figures out the hyperatomic drive.
Quote #9
And Stephen Byerley, tight-lipped, in the face of thousands who watched in person and the millions who watched by screen, drew back his fist and caught the man crackingly upon the chin. (Evidence.268)
With robots, it helps to keep in mind that there are ways to communicate besides what we say. For instance, Speedy and Nestor-10 both pay attention to how people say commands. But with humans, there's also other ways to communicate, and Byerley has just demonstrated one of the most basic forms of communication: hitting someone. This isn't just a regular punch, though; this punch communicates a lot of information about Byerley being human (maybe).