Discussion Questions for “Robot Dreams”

What does LVX-1 say to Dr. Susan Calvin and Dr. Linda Rash that they find so disconcerting? (1)

How does Dr. Linda Rash feel towards Dr. Susan Calvin? (1)

What is Dr. Susan Calvin able to do without the aid of a hand-held computer, which impresses Dr.
Rash so much? (1)

What had Dr. Rash done in creating a robotic positronic brain that had never been done before?
(1)

Why did Dr. Rash not tell anyone about her experiment? (1)

What does Dr. Susan Calvin find ironic about Dr. Rash’s name?

What does Dr. Susan Calvin say to Dr. Rash about her decision to make this change in a robotic
positronic brain without discussing it with anyone? (1)

What does Dr. Susan Calvin tell Dr. Rash may be the consequences of her action, and on what
does it depend? (1)

What does Dr. Rash concernedly ask Dr. Susan Calvin about regarding Elvex? (2)

When they reactivate Elvex by speaking his name, they ask him how he knew he had been
dreaming. What does he tell them about how he knew he had been dreaming? (2)
Dr. Susan Calvin and Dr. Rash ask Elvex to tell them his dream. What was Elvex’s dream? (2-3)

How does Elvex know about other robots since he has never left the testing station? (3)
What does Dr. Susan Calvin tell Elvex about how robots really are (and are not) in reality versus
in his dream, something that Elvex himself recognizes? (3)

What laws of robotics did not seem to exist for Elvex in his dream? (3)

What is Dr. Linda Rash’s reaction to having heard this much of Elvex’s dream? (4)

What has Dr. Linda Rash’s use of fractal geometry in a positronic brain, permitting Elvex to
dream, revealed about Elvex, and by extension (according to Dr. Susan Calvin) all robots, that
they had not previously suspected? (4)

What does Dr. Susan Calvin tell Dr. Linda Rash now about what she has done, and what she will
be doing in the future? What will the consequences of her actions be? (4)

What is the final part of Elvex’s dream, how does Dr. Susan Calvin react, and why does she react
the way that she does? (4)