experience as a long time, the Georges discuss the criteria for what constitutes 'responsible authority'- that (A) an educated, principled and rational person should be obeyed in preference to an ignorant, immoral and irrational person, and (B) that superficial characteristics such as skin tone, sexuality, or physical disabilities are not relevant when considering fitness for command. Given that (A) the Georges are among the most rational, principled and educated persons on the planet, and (B) their differences from normal humans are purely physical, they conclude that in any situation where the Three laws would come into play, their own orders should take priority over that of a regular human. That in other words, that they are essentially a superior form of human being, and destined to usurp the authority of their makers. Story notes While Asimov may have intended this to represent the final word on the Three Laws's subtleties, he later returned to the same theme and developed it in a different direction. The Bicentennial Man, written two years later, also addresses the distinction between human and robot and its implication for the Three Laws. This time, the story also revolves around a robot who wishes to become human, but its protagonist chooses to cross each barrier as he becomes aware of it, never learning until the very end what makes an individual human. The title references Psalm 8:5: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And son of man, that thou visitest him?" See also Zeroth Law of Robotics External links Robot series short stories by Isaac Asimov 1974 short stories Works originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction