The Appeal to Authority Fails

The Robot Who Looked Like Me

This subplot follows the attempted appeals to computers, divination, and God as people seek an answer to an apparently unsolvable catastrophe.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Computer’s Refusal The Computer’s Refusal from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". Calculation Finds No Way Out A request for rescue The characters give a computer the facts of their predicament and ask it to save them and Earth.

The Computer’s Refusal from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". Calculation Finds No Way Out A request for rescue The characters give a computer the facts of their predicament and ask it to save them and Earth.

Calculation Finds No Way Out A request for rescue The characters give a computer the facts of their predicament and ask it to save them and Earth. The machine reports that the problem cannot be solved. Hope shifts elsewhere Rather than accept the judgment, the group treats it as one opinion and seeks another source. The response exposes the human desire to continue asking after certainty has failed.

The Card of Judgment The Card of Judgment from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". Another Oracle Is Asked A second appeal The gypsy turns a card that signifies Final Judgement. The result reinforces the bleakness of the situation.

The Card of Judgment from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". Another Oracle Is Asked A second appeal The gypsy turns a card that signifies Final Judgement. The result reinforces the bleakness of the situation.

Another Oracle Is Asked A second appeal The gypsy turns a card that signifies Final Judgement. The result reinforces the bleakness of the situation. Rejection of the verdict The characters again decide that one reading cannot settle the matter. Their repeated consultations become a form of emotional resistance rather than a practical plan.

The Cerulean Telephone The Cerulean Telephone from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". A President Calls Heaven The forbidden line President Edgars uses the emergency telephone and asks to speak with God.

The Cerulean Telephone from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". A President Calls Heaven The forbidden line President Edgars uses the emergency telephone and asks to speak with God.

A President Calls Heaven The forbidden line President Edgars uses the emergency telephone and asks to speak with God. The receptionist says God is unavailable but omniscient. A request left unanswered Edgars seeks both intervention and assurance about his dead father and the afterlife. The call provides polite procedure instead of revelation.

A General’s Secular Response A General’s Secular Response from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". The War Continues No special answer Edgars reports that he received only evasions from the divine office.

A General’s Secular Response from "The Robot Who Looked Like Me". The War Continues No special answer Edgars reports that he received only evasions from the divine office.

The War Continues No special answer Edgars reports that he received only evasions from the divine office. General Muller says that even if God exists, he prefers not to believe in superstition. Action without certainty The people proceed with their task despite receiving no reassurance. The scene contrasts the desire for ultimate meaning with the practical continuation of political action.

Witness After the Destruction

A Robot Bears Testimony Identity remains uncertain A robot who might have been Dr. Zach recounts the fall of the palace, while admitting uncertainty about his own identity. His testimony preserves the catastrophe without resolving who speaks. Memory against erasure The account insists that the destruction matters even if Earth may disappear. Bearing witness becomes the remaining response to a world that has lost its defenses.

During the first attempt to solve the crisis

After the computer consultation

After Zirn’s loss is reported

After the call to Paradise Reception

After the palace has fallen