Editing Liar! (short story)

{{short description|Science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov}}
{{one source|date=February 2017}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox short story
|name         = Liar!
|author       = [[Isaac Asimov]]
|country      = United States 
|language     = English
|series       = [[Robot series (Asimov)|''Robot'' series]]
|genre        = [[Science fiction]] 
|publication_type = [[Periodical]]
|published_in = ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]''
|publisher    = [[Street & Smith]]
|media_type   = Print ([[magazine]], [[Hardcover|hardback]] and [[paperback]])
|pub_date     = May 1941
|preceded_by  = [[Catch that Rabbit]]
|followed_by  = [[Satisfaction Guaranteed (short story)|Satisfaction Guaranteed]]
}}

"'''Liar!'''" is a [[science fiction]] [[short story]] by American writer [[Isaac Asimov]]. It first appeared in the May 1941 issue of ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]'' and was reprinted in the collections ''[[I, Robot]]'' (1950) and ''[[The Complete Robot]]'' (1982). It was Asimov's third published [[positronic robot]] story. Although the word "robot" was introduced to the public by Czech writer [[Karel Čapek]] in his 1920 play ''[[R.U.R.]]'' (Rossum's Universal Robots), Asimov's story "Liar!" contains the first recorded use of the word "[[robotics]]" according to the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''.<ref name="Guardian blog 7 April 2009">{{cite news |last= Sample |first= Ian |title= Pop a Disc pill and engage the Higgs drive! |url= https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2009/apr/07/science-words-that-come-from-science-fiction| date= 7 April 2009|newspaper= [[The Guardian]] |location=London| accessdate=9 February 2017 }}</ref><ref name="OUPblog 31 March 2009">{{cite web |url= https://blog.oup.com/2009/03/science-fiction/|title= Nine words you might think came from science but which are really from science fiction |last= Prucher| first= Jeff|date= 31 March 2009|website= OUPblog |publisher= [[Oxford University Press]] | accessdate= 9 February 2017 }}</ref> The events of this short story are also mentioned in the novel ''[[The Robots of Dawn]]'' written by the same author.

==Plot summary==
Through a fault in manufacturing, a [[robot]], RB-34 (also known as Herbie), is created that possesses telepathic abilities. While the roboticists at [[U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men]] investigate how this occurred, the robot tells them what other people are thinking. But the [[Three Laws of Robotics|First Law]] still applies to this robot, and so it deliberately lies when necessary to avoid hurting their feelings and to make people happy, especially in terms of romance.

However, by lying, it is hurting them anyway. When it is confronted with this fact by [[Susan Calvin]] (to whom it falsely claimed her coworker was infatuated with her – a particularly painful lie), the robot experiences an insoluble logical conflict and becomes catatonic.

==Adaptations==

* In 1958, "Liar" was adapted into an [[List of Exploring Tomorrow episodes|episode]] of the radio show ''[[Exploring Tomorrow]]''. 
* ''El robot embustero'' (1966), short film directed by [[Antonio Lara de Gavilán]]
* In 1969, "Liar" was adapted into an episode of the British television series ''[[Out of the Unknown]],'' although only a few short clips of [[List of Out of the Unknown episodes#Series 3|this episode]] are [[Lost television broadcast#Wiping|known to exist]].<ref name="ZetaMinor">{{cite web |url= http://www.zetaminor.com/cult/out_unknown/ootu_clips_guide_intro.htm|title= OUT OF THE UNKNOWN: CLIPS GUIDE - INTRODUCTION |last= Cutler | first= Colin |website= www.zetaminor.com |publisher= Zeta Minor | accessdate= 9 February 2017 }}</ref> 
* The story was adapted in 1987 as part of episode 12 of the Soviet anthology series ''This Fantastic World'' ("[[:ru:Этот фантастический мир|Этот фантастический мир]]"). It featured [[Boris Plotnikov]] as RB-34 and [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0623393/ Natalya Nazarova] as Susan Calvin.<ref>[https://www.kino-teatr.ru/kino/movie/sov/78743/annot/ Этот фантастический мир. Выпуск 12 (1987)]</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YDhG6WFr68 Борис Плотников в экранизации рассказа "Лжец!". Этот фантастический мир (1987)]</ref>
* The story was broadcast as episode four of a five-part ''[[15 Minute Drama]]'' radio adaptation of Asimov's ''I, Robot'' on [[BBC Radio 4]] in February 2017.<ref name="BBC 9 February 2017">{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08cstfw|title= Liar: Isaac Asimov's I, Robot Episode 4 of 5|author= <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website= [[BBC Online]] |publisher= BBC | accessdate= 9 February 2017 }}</ref>

==Accolades==
"Liar" was voted 41st in the 2012 Locus Poll of Best 20th Century Short Stories.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://locusmag.com/2012/12/all-time-short-fiction-results-2012/|title=All-Time Short Fiction Results, 2012|work=[[Locus (magazine)|Locus]]|access-date=November 9, 2024}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Liar paradox]]
*[[Does not compute]]
*[[HAL 9000]], who confronted a similar paradox when told to keep a secret, while being "hardwired" to return information truthfully and without concealment.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{ISFDB title|id=41212|short=y}}
* [https://archive.org/stream/Astounding_v27n03_1941-05#page/n41/mode/2up "Liar!"] on the [[Internet Archive]]
* {{IMDb name|0001920|Isaac Asimov}}

{{AsimovStory
|before    = "[[Catch that Rabbit]]"
|included1 = [[I, Robot]]
|included2 = [[The Complete Robot]]<br>[[Robot Visions]]
|series1   = [[Robot series (Asimov)|''Robot'' series]]
|series2   = [[Foundation (book series)|''Foundation'' Series]]
|next      = "[[Satisfaction Guaranteed (short story)|Satisfaction Guaranteed]]"
}}

{{I, Robot}}
{{The Complete Robot}}

[[Category:Robot series short stories by Isaac Asimov]]
[[Category:1941 short stories]]
[[Category:Works originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact]]