Isaac Asimov Interview with Bill Boggs

you you hi Bill Boggs here I hope you had a good weekend and we really have a special treat for you today on our midday conversation with a great gentleman an unbelievably prolific writer of two hundred and sixty-two books a brilliant scientist dr. Isaac Asimov as our guest today so stay with us midday with Gil Boggs is the New York area Emmy Award winner for outstanding discussion interview series again welcome to midday and believe me this is as much a treat for me as I hope it will be for you when I sit down and talk to Isaac Asimov I am in a place called aw I'm truly in awe of this gentleman I'll tell you about him that many people know of Isaac Asimov as one of if not the greatest science fiction writer of all time he is beyond that an enormous ly popular and brilliant scientist who has the ability to explain complicated things and very clear and concise terms he is the author of 262 books some people even read 262 books in their lifetime on subjects ranging from the Bible Shakespeare mathematics obviously great science fiction now he has a new book out which I'm proud to say because I really love this gentleman is as of yesterday hit the New York Times bestseller list and for all of his 261 books this is the first one to make it on the New York Times bestseller list in its current first publication it is called foundations edge is the fourth novel in the foundation series and here to talk about that and almost any subject that you can imagine is Isaac Asimov welcome and thank you how are you bill I'm I'm in awe i-i've already mentioned that foundation's edge New York Times bestseller list how is this making you feel well as a matter of fact it's like a second birth I remember how I felt when I first sold a story back in 1938 the first one first one is play you know even if I had never sold another story I would be a writer and I suddenly felt the kind of brotherhood or sibling hood to all other writers and this continued for 44 years now I'm suddenly a best-selling writer I've got a best-seller and I now once again feel a sudden kinship to other writers who do bestsellers you know my pal you're gonna hang around but hang around with those buddies now I'm curious as to what brought the great science fiction writer Isaac Asimov back to the novel of science fiction after an absence of 10 years what why did you decide to come back and write this eagerly anticipated book foundations edge I didn't I mean foundation trilogy was finished back in 1950 and then they put out the three books of it in 51 52 and 53 and that was it I went on to other things yeah and then Doubleday well the fans the readers insisted on getting more and they kept her and I kept ignoring it and then Doubleday he felt that it might be a good idea and I ignored them too and finally after 32 years Doubleday got tired of being ignored and they called me in grabbed me by the throat and said you're going to write another novel and by that we mean a another foundation novel and I said alright okay and then they put the contract on and they gave me a huge advance I said that's too much and they said shut up and sign seven right right and so I reported them to the authors Lee for being impolite or not but I got no sympathy and I wrote it and I was afraid all the time that everyone would say see he doesn't have the touch anymore give us back the advance you know people wouldn't think that Isaac Asimov would have that kind of insecurity I mean with the wide range of subjects your acknowledged genius but you actually did feel a little bit of trepidation about returning to the form getting back into the ring well it says the saying a little bit I felt a lot of trepidation I mean how did I know I'd written the foundation trilogy when I was in my 20s and I'm a little past that and I wasn't sure I could still do it I mean maybe I had passed my peak and anyway when I brought in the manuscript my editor said now I'm mad you should have done this decades ago and just took off what as I like to do with any author of fiction on the program I like to give you the latitude of telling our viewers as much you want to tell about the subject of the book I'm going to want to sit down and go through the whole story because I wanted people to buy it and read it but loosely how does it follow the foundation trilogy foundations edge well the foundation trilogy in general deals with the fall of the Galactic Empire and the projected rise of a second Galactic Empire under the guidance of a science called psycho history in other words you treat masses of human beings as though their actions could be predicted behavior becomes mathematical that's right for a lot of people not for individuals and in the in the foundation trilogy itself I described a number of crises and things looked as though they're going to break up and then there was a recovery and there seemed to be smooth sailing and in foundations edge I take up the story from there 498 years after the beginning of the trilogy introduced new problems new dangers and new resolutions actually the entire series including foundations edge is a kind of tale of interstellar intrigue and adventure it's it's a piece of historical fiction of the future written as though you is still further in the future looking back and there's sweeps of time I mean sometimes between items 100 years might pass and it all has to be kept consistent and it isn't easy I mean I can think of a lot easier things to write than foundation novels but Doubleday has know pretty well a lot of what that I've read but the Shakespeare book the book about the Bible are products of copious and excellent research on your part and I envision you sitting in your apartment at your typewriter your word processor right I know you have three typewriters going at all times with the material out the research out and seeing you put it together I don't and I can't see you writing a science fiction what is different about the process do you lie on a couch and vision or you're still just sitting at the typewriter seeing it I'm still just sitting at the typewriter except that I'm not doing any research I'm making it all up out of my head and I don't know exactly when I make it up because while I'm typing is just coming out very easily and I'm reading it with great interest and wondering what's going to happen next I presume that my unconscious keeps at work at under such conditions when I'm wasting time like when I'm sleeping or eating or shaving or that something's going on in your unconscious I presume I'd like to talk a little bit about your work habits any any individual who's had this enormous outpouring of work 262 books I think we could learn in a lot from a hat how what do you get up early in the morning you wear at work an eight-hour day how do you organize yourself to turn out such a great volume well I do wake up early in the morning 6 a.m. is my rising hour I work whenever I'm not doing anything else that's what it amounts to I don't have fixed hours I don't drive myself it's just when I'm not doing anything else I'm writing and I don't like to do anything else but some some people some writers you know attach a and kind of a mysticism about writing they have to you know be in the same place at the same time in a certain mood there can be no interruptions I don't see you that way I see you it's just being able to sit down and it's like turning on the light and you go am I correct in that yes when I take a vacation never voluntarily I bring paper and pen with me and when no one is looking I can sit down and write paper and pen comes out just and so I work in my typewriter except I can only do fiction so I generally write short stories when I'm on straight ones let me take a pause for commercial we have a few very interesting phone calls and we're going to get into outer space inner space the oceans and a lot of other places today with our special guest dr. eyes again 20:21 yeah isaac asimov dr. isaac asimov he will foundation's edge to the fourth novel in the foundation series available Isaac I just a few things oh I know you a little a little bit better than perhaps I know some of my other guests we've known each other since 1970 there are things about you I think that the average person be fascinating to know for example you are a veritable unending well supply of jokes at a party at a dinner party this man he could he could bury the best of them you you're one of those individuals who can remember jokes right let's have a few jokes oh dear me no I wouldn't say that to a comedian Isaac what's just one recent one that you've heard well none of this is planned outages yes yes now you see there'd be no difficulty now I have to think of a joke that isn't in bad taste that isn't uh that you shouldn't have trouble telling because of being on television because of being on television and but let me see all of a sudden the only ones I can quit we can get get to Joe's later please we can get Ricky we can get to jokes later but the subconscious will work it out at any point during the program if I think will come out which I think I can tell I will all right now another thing that you are famous for is being invited to speak and not having anything prepared and on the way to the lectern saying what do you want me to talk about going up and standing behind a lectern and speaking correct well once I was supposed to give a talking I thought I have thought of something to say and the fellow introducing me red and short excerpt for you see I sometimes I say sometimes I say and this is just very cynically and I don't that behind every rich every rich elderly woman who wants to freeze herself and come back there's a heart I'd daughter-in-law determined there that'll never happen before too much time has it what do you think New York City will be like in 100 years well if we're lucky yeah if we're lucky if we're if we've not been nuked now if we're lucky I'm hoping that New York City and all other cities on earth will be largely decentralized in other words that the urban culture will have past that the population of Earth will be lower than it is now partly through a lower birth rate partly because people will be moving out into space and that it will be more spread out that with the new techniques of communication and transportation it will no longer be necessary for human beings to all cluster together in one thick clump so that cities will be smaller lower and at the same time more advanced than they are now what do you envision in the area of telecommunications and communications in general about 100 years from them well I would like to think that we are going to we are going to have what we have now the communication satellites the computers but as an integral part of human society in every way so that each individual person can reach any other person at will and portably so in other words you have some small gadget on you at all times and by and by adjusting some call number or other you can reach anyone anywhere and for that matter if you're ever lost you can set up on your own private wavelength and everyone will have his own wavelength and a day when you have laser eyes communication satellites you've set up a call number not only will people know it's you but they'll know where you are and they'll come and get you I've often thought that the children for instance might might have a little communication device that is always going so that they can't get lost parents always know where they are and then I figure there'll always be a built-in fight in the family because an Asia will be reached when the youngster thinks he doesn't have to be on call anymore and the parents think he's still ought to be on call and you will get these little devices broken things like that it'll be a case if it's 10:00 p.m. and I know exactly where you are yes where as a kid wants code size 10 P of it you don't have to know where are you I don't want you to know where are you Isaac do you have any personal desire to go into space but a personal question you write so much about it you are so hopeful that we will colonize space within the next hundred years personally do you want to go there no no I'm a signpost I point the way I don't go anywhere I mean I I don't even I don't even have this urge to go into an airplane or to see Grand Canyon or anything as a matter of fact I'm a Manhattan night I'm not only a Manhattan night but a deep down within me I feel that I don't want to be anywhere but Manhattan occasionally I leave Manhattan but it's never voluntarily do you work as well in other places as you work in Manhattan oh sure I spent 21 years in the Boston area I wrote away there and whenever whenever I go on a trip if I have if I have time to myself I manage to do something about it let me take a break for a commercial we have we're going to get into robots UFOs and a few other interesting things with some special phone calls we'll start them in the next thing we'll be right back with Isaac Isaac our special guest today on Monday our conversation with is dr. Isaac Asimov who is proud proudly sitting in a chair and also proudly sitting on the New York Times bestseller list because his new novel foundations edge the fourth novel in the foundation series is currently in bookstores I should point out that the foundation trilogy won something called the Yugo award as the all-time best science fiction series which is wonderful accomplishment Isaac now you punch a button here on the phone we got some calls here the first call is from Charles Selig Charles welcome to our phone on midday I'm all right Thank You Charles as I understand you were senior member of the Barnard Columbia science fiction society is that correct yeah I am well if it were secure say hello to dr. Isaac Asimov hello Doctor hi now you wanted to ask a specific question so far away yeah um some of your stories dr. hall just robots or computers guiding or outliving me unkind and I was wondering if that was just a storytelling device or do you think that's eventually going to happen well if humanity continues on the road it's taking it may come to an end before we've got robots that are intelligent enough to be able to continue on their own but I certainly think that there's nothing unrealistic in supposing that the human race might if it's sufficiently insane commit suicide and leave behind their artifacts more or less like the ancient Egyptians left behind the pyramids when we're thinking more in the last question type of story where the computers out with me unkind because mankind especially all about ah well you see the last question was a very special story in it I tackle the problem of how far computers might evolve and it seemed to me that there was no reason why a computer couldn't be eventually manufactured which was as as a human being in its way and if it could be as intelligent it could be more intelligent well how much more and then the story the computer evolved by stages until it was quite literally God and then of course when the human species came to an end that they became one with God so that the computer was left still alive but then of course the computer began the whole thing over again by saying let there be light that's my favorite story of all those I've written another of your robot stories the Bicentennial man one of the things that happens in that story is that the robot because as human parts to himself or parts that will be going to become more human-like and that also in this humans are because adding more artificial parts themselves and it's wondering how do you think people's attitudes will change if they start having ability to add artificial parts do you think for instance that they will not give up smoking because they know they can get another new one even if the old one has cancer ah well that might be so that might be so personally what I always had in mind was that if robots became more human you see there's another possible ultimate end of robots that of robots becoming God robots become men humanity if robots become closer and closer to human beings and if human beings themselves through prosthetic devices become closer and closer to being robots the point may arise in which people will wonder what the distinction is between robots and human beings and my own feeling is that the proper solution to such a dilemma would be who cares Charles I thank you for your call okay thank you good talking with you interesting questions keep it going what what Isaac what are some of your thoughts about the new frontiers of medicine with regard to genetic and nearing improving the race and some got doctors putting himself in the position of playing guy well my own feeling is that the greatest advantage that human beings have is the variety of the gene pool in other words I don't feel that one type of gene let us say is superior to another type or more desirable I think you can't really tell what is superior or more desirable because these things change with circumstances and what's important is to have a lot of variety so that when circumstances do change something which previously was not important and which now has become important is still there what would be an example of that well let me give you an example in ingrain for instance we were always looking for better strains of wheat or which will grow faster which will recur which will produce more protein and a given period of time and the result is that you may have something which is less resistant to disease but you sacrifice that for the sake of getting fast growth and high protein content and then everybody tries to grow that so you end up with wheat all of it belonging to the same strain or to a small group of strains and all the other kinds of wheat which you consider inferior die out and then if some disease does strike some form of wheat rust some fungus affection towards which this particular strain has no resistance suddenly it's the disease resistance that counts not the high protein content and you wipe out most of the wheat on earth and there's a starvation time and you find you don't have the other strains and e22 interbreed with these now the same thing could happen to human beings were all going to be perhaps chosen in such a way that we've we've all enjoy living in cities that we can all stand a great deal of population pressure but we've got such stability under all this crowding and you figure that's what want but then it turns out that the time comes when you want to spread out when it will be better to live under non concentrated conditions and you find that nobody can do that and so where do you where are you going to get the strain you want people you want people who are tall and there comes a time when you can use short people in spaceships for instance all you gotta do all handsome guys like you Isaac I found myself wondering this I don't know I don't know why I was wondering but I'm curious if if you there's another personal question hypothetically could have lived that any other totally different time in history when when without it been oh I've made up my mind it's got to be right now because knew you would say that but if you could if you could go back in any other time the Egyptians and Romans the pioneers the settlers any of it ever appeals you ever oh the tendency is to live in the Golden Age of Athens so you can know Greek and here Aeschylus plays and Sophocles and Euripides in the original Greek when they're done attending opening night right the only thing is you know the ancient Greek civilization was based on slavery and the relatively small percentage of the population were true citizens most of the people were peasants slaves who who didn't have much of a chance of education and I have a feeling I go back there all set to chew the fat with Socrates and I find out a slave working there on a farm or something not a good deal no so and then wherever you go back you know you don't have antibiotics you don't have anesthetics what if you get appendicitis it's not good absolutely not if you read it but if you have a cavity that's right not so good no so I'm gonna rouse the time right I'm gonna risk nuclear war and everything I live now all right let's take a break we have another interesting phone call coming up we're gonna be talking about UFOs right after this eleven wow we're just talking about the settlers and you were saying out of the first eleven thousand settlers who settled right eleven thousand people came to Virginia between 1609 1607 and 1617 and in 1617 the population of Virginia was one thousand what was disease famine Wars all sorts of all sorts of things was a hard life and there were hard winters and there was famine and there was disease and there was no reasonable method of fighting disease and there were also troubles with the Indians so objected to anyway let's not get sidetracked because I think when people think of Isaac Asimov in addition to this Shakespeare and mathematics book say about science fiction so on the line right now John P Timmerman national chairman the Center for UFO studies John hello good morning good morning to you had any sightings recently John well I haven't I've never seen anything that I can't explain but I've spoken to many many people who have an of course read reports of others by the thousand well we have dr. Isaac Asimov here son you wanted a specific lacet question we prearranged this phone call so far away alright fine well I appreciate the opportunity first of all to be on your program of course to speak to mr. Isaac on the the question I have sir is regarding the many high-quality multiple witness reports of what appear to be unidentified objects or atmospheric phenomena some of which leave measurable physical traces and which remain unexplained after careful examination by highly qualified persons what do you believe should be done with this information and by whom well I scarcely know I presume that people who are interested in these phenomena study them they did it to a great extent our problem however is that the information remains limited to those who are intensely adversative course I presume that's natural and this is the way it probably will always be but the implications of it are are quite amazing at least of those of us who spend a lot of time investigating these cases and they seem to indicate that something immensely interesting and perhaps important has been occurring and continues to occur worldwide to a great variety of unpredictable women in the 1920s and 1930s there were a few people who were intensely interested in the phenomena of nuclear physics of these little particles in the nucleus etcetera etcetera there could not have been more than a few dozen people who were so intensely interested and who worked at it the rest of the world would occasionally hear some stories about atom-smashing etc but they weren't really interested and they went their own way until such time as the nuclear bomb was exploded and then suddenly everybody was interested now presumably if those people investigating UFOs come up with something startling then everyone will be interested but to expect worldwide serious scientific interest in advance of anything happening is a perhaps to ask too much of human nature as perhaps great truth I wonder what you would regard as the dimensions of such an event how would you describe such an event and it's public revelation that would initiate such a reaction in the scientific community landing at City Hall that would be one example it works very well actually what most people would think of would be the actual landing of an extraterrestrial spaceship and the identification of its crew beyond any question you know take me to your leader and he's brought over to the leader whoever he they're on television they're interviewed by the Walters has you know the works but we don't have to go that far I mean the chances of there being an extraterrestrial space man's extraterrestrial theme spaceship is perhaps small if as the result of some UFO sighting one suddenly understands something about the weather for instance which had never before been understood if under certain conditions of temperature barometric pressure wind etc one could get a glow which one could wouldn't get otherwise that to my suddenly roused intense interests and meteorologists and this is what J Allen Hynek for instance talks about I mean he discounts the possibility of extraterrestrials but does say that if we study UFO reports we might make a quantum jump in our understanding of the atmosphere perhaps of the earth as a whole perhaps of physics as a whole well if if Heine can come up with something I think science would follow him gladly but in I'm afraid there in 20 years he hasn't I understand and I worked animal II with dr. Hynek I assist him and his work at the Center for UFO studies in Evanston Illinois and in his residence we have in file some 80 thousand cases of very interesting reports of many of which have been explained but a significant number remain unexplained and it's difficult to know perhaps the proper way to approach the scientific community to get their response on this Beaver Sturrock I'm you may recognize that name at the Stanford plasma Research Laboratories has recently organized a group of a hundred scientists throughout the country who are willing to assist him in the examination of a variety of unexplained things including the UFO phenomena well I hope that they are able to come up with nothing I hope they come up with something too Thank You mr. Tim I'm out thank you for the Robert empty interest always if it's always a fascinating subject isn't it oh we appreciate your addressing our Lubbock okay thank you Isaac a few were you know either way the answer this next question is interesting are we alone in the universe or do you think it's somewhere out there we've well there's two ways two ways to look at it huh there are so many stars with so many planets possibly that it seems unlikely there wouldn't be many planets that are quite like the earth chemically and physically and if there are it seems that it's unlikely that life wouldn't develop their life isn't so unusual phenomenon might seem so statistically alone you might think there are many planets that are life barring question is how many of them would develop intelligence we don't know but the optimistic view which is one I have in my time taken is that there could be millions of civilizations just in our own galaxy let alone other galaxies on the other hand there's also a pessimistic way of looking at it in other words when one tries to figure out the small changes that would make earth uninhabitable a little closer to the Sun a little further from the Sun slightly different atmosphere and so on and then you multiply all the chances of everything being just so it turns out that maybe it's like one-one per galaxy or less and you say well what incredible luck that we happen to be on this planet that's not luck this is the only planet we could be on this is your that's called the anthropic principle and therefore we can argue either way that we are alone or nearly alone or that we want of a huge crowd and what we really need is evidence and we don't have it either way so do you what do you think well it's it's almost too complicated what we just went through with mr. Timmerman there have you ever seen anything that you would say would be an unidentified flying object personally I once saw something which I couldn't understand that was just a round looked like an aluminum sphere featureless aluminum sphere hanging not far above my head in the twilight sky over near Walden Pond in Massachusetts and I watched it in disbelief it was just hanging there and then slowly started changing shape and I realized it was turning and when it turned broadside I saw was a Goodyear blimp really a horror story and that's the closest I came to I just happened to see it I John and you know if I had rushed in for a moment or two yes yes I've rushed in and called up my picture alright yeah to this day I'd have been convinced I'd seen a flying awaited being a scientist you waited just actually I waited cuz I was paralyzed I couldn't believe I've never seen anything but it is really fascinating so I mean what did you think of the movie ET well I enjoyed it a lot especially for the sympathetic portrayal of an extraterrestrial you know because I've grown so tired of having everything that is intelligent but not human made to look like a monster of evil I mean as far as I know the only monsters of evil of the universe are us so why are we always hitting on sorry right however I must say that I'm old-fashioned and I love to hear dialog when someone is speaking I hate to hear other people speaking overlapping dying propositional sounding and you know that's not naturalistic it's supposed to be naturalistic it isn't but when you're in an actual crowd miss overlapping dialogue you're looking at the person you're you're speaking and you're still getting it right you see his lips move you pick up or and you don't hear the others you hear only this one but in the movies when there's overlapping dialogue you don't hear a thing very I resent it very good point that's interesting I wish you hadn't told me that cuz now it's gonna bother me more than it good we'll be back right after this another phone call about well you'll see planets right after this all right we have one other phone call from are you on the line now hi Aaron medley' con is that correct yeah that's right and you're with the Space Studies Institute mm-hmm okay well dr. Isaac Asimov is here and I understand you have a question about planetary chauvinism yeah explain what it is please okay as far as I know planetary chauvinism is a phrase that dr. as my point and I believe that it's that humans have a notion that will always have to spend out our lives on a planet and my question is for dr. Asimov don't you think it's possible we'll grow out of that chauvinistic thinking or do you really believe we'll never have the smarts to spend out our lives in a new environment like a space colony no I think we will grow out of it but before I go any further I have very reluctantly to deny being the originator of the expression I wish I were but I heard it from Carl Sagan I won't swear that he invented it but that's the first I came with us that's a footnote yes now I'm convinced that we will build space settlements in space we will live inside small worlds and we will eventually recognize that as the natural way to live it's economical you have all you have just a relatively small amount of mass and it's all used in the case of the earth you've got an enormous mass and almost all of it is not used it's down deep where we can't get our cake in the only purpose is to supply enough mass to produce enough gravitational intensity the holes lock onto the outside and that's our waste so that with the same mass you can build a trillion Space Station's carrying incredible numbers of people inside and this is what will eventually come - I'm sure we'll use the asteroid belt to build any number thousands upon thousands hundreds of thousands of space stations which will eventually flee the solar system altogether but if we let me stay on the line if we will Aaron but we are hypothetically and hopefully at zero population growth here on the planet what's the what's the incentive to go and do what you've just described is it just man's need to explore the unknown it won't be it won't be a practical incentive will it Isaac well on the one hand you can build a new life for yourself just as people some people from Europe came to the Americas to look for gold you know but there are others who came to build a new life where they could live according to their own way without having to be to undergo let us say religious or cultural persecution in the same way if you go out there and you build a small world for yourself a whole 10,000 people they might be all 10,000 seventh-day adventists who can now celebrate Saturday is the day of rest la having all these sunday people around squeezing them out or they can people be there who are who are secular humanists and they don't want all this religion around so they just live there just a group of vagueness colony why agnostic yes and you can have such a variety in human culture you want to interject something here Aaron I was just gonna say so the doctrines would you agree with dr. Gerard O'Neill who has been talking a lot about building space colonies when you agree with him that it is feasible oh yes he converted me because when I read his first article of the subject that was all set to dig in my heels and say never never I want to call me on the moon and but I read it and he convinced me and I was so relieved he convinced me because I'm always worried that I'm reaching the age where I'm set in my ways and can't accept any new ideas every time a new idea is forced on me I'm so relieved and of course it means it means you have new ideas for science fiction stories now I can write a science fiction story about somebody who wants to start a colony on the moon and everyone's against it we don't start colonies on worlds we build them in space using all right Aaron that sounds great thank you very much thank you bye and he did any jokes pop in by the way Isaac if not we I never thought of it now it's a subconscious as long as we're talking I'll tell you a joke all right at the time at the time that America sent people to the moon an American said to an Israeli how do you like the fact that we have sent astronauts to the moon and the Israeli said nothing nothing we in Israel are going to send astronauts to the Sun America so that's mad you can't send astronauts to the Sun they eat the light the radiation is impossible nonsense said the Israeli we're going to send them at night even of an audience today that's why we didn't have gales of laughter well also you see I haven't though this might be viewed as poking fun at the Israelis but since I'm Jewish I'm allowed then you're allowed to do it you know I heard one but uh the invite involves two different religions I think it's a thing is okay to say that Pope has an aide who rushes into him does your holiness I've got good news and I've got bad news the Pope says let me have the good news first he says Christ has returned to Earth folks eyes wide what can the bad news bb-8 says he's living in Salt Lake City ha see to our Mormon that'd be two pieces of good news anyway let's take a break we'll come back with Isaac Asma right after this well this has been a real treat I think talking with dr. isaac asimov author of foundations edge published by doubleday just in a couple minutes we have remaining I want to ask you two questions first is what do you think happens at the time of death oh absolutely nothing well when I say absolutely nothing what I mean is that the organization of the body is disrupted and you no longer exist the materials of the body still exist but the organization that resulted in what we call life doesn't exist it's like building a complex palace out of little blocks and there's the palace built up of blocks and if you go like that and knock it down all the blocks are still there but the palaces organization Isaac what about the soul but well is it resolved does anything continue to survive us do you believe in reincarnation do you believe in heaven and hell or do you think that when there's there's no evidence of any of that people who do believe it merely use the site the Bible as evidence and if you're and the Bible is not evidence in scientific sense of scientific evidence there isn't any so I I say I say who knows my own personal guess based on no evidence is that none of this exists but someone else might guess based on no evidence that it does exist do whatever you're more comfortable with once evidence arises one way or the other then we are no longer able to choose either one we have to go with with with the evidences but so far there isn't any the last very important question is Isaac do you watch Star Trek yeah I've watched Star Trek plenty of times yes you like him oh sure what are the other things in the science fiction field that you are a fan of so many people are your fans who are science fiction that's what do you like to read and watch well I love Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back and I'm waiting for for the third one in the series in fact when I saw Empire I expect when it was finished I stood stood up my seat the shouted stop number three he loves it that much so there's still a part of Isaac Asimov who was a little kid in his father's candy store in Brooklyn that's as much of a fan of science fiction reading those books sitting on all sure as ever huh sure it's a lot of it's been spoiled by the fact that I write it that's become a profession but every once in a while I I get that little little sense of wonder and awe what if your father hadn't had a candy store with those science fiction books uh yeah that that fills me with dread I would never have been able to read science fiction the only reason I was able to read us guy could read it for nothing we have no money really no money and the less I could read it for nothing and put it back on the stands I simply would not have been able to read it what would have become of me bill eyes are frightening we have no evidence to tell together are you an insight into that your life 262 books to tell us what you've done and this is the most recent foundation's edge this is a true treat having you with us thank you for coming doc all right thank you Bill fun we'll see you tomorrow on today have a nice afternoon

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Length: 44min 22sec (2662 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 09 2012