Я, Робот
The Evitable Conflict
SusanCalvindidnotallowherselftorelax,despitethedesignedcomfortofthechairshesatin.Hercold,thin-lippedfaceandherflat,evenvoicewerebecomingaccentuatedwiththeyears.AndalthoughStephenByerleywasonemanshecouldlikeandtrust,shewasalmostseventyandthecultivatedhabitsofalifetimearenoteasilybroken.
"Everyperiodofhumandevelopment,Susan,"saidtheCo-ordinator,"hashaditsownparticulartypeofhumanconflict–itsownvarietyofproblemthat,apparently,couldbesettledonlybyforce.Andeachtime,frustratinglyenough,forceneverreallysettledtheproblem.Instead,itpersistedthroughaseriesofconflicts,thenvanishedofitself,-what’stheexpression,-ah,yes’notwithabang,butawhimper,’astheeconomicandsocialenvironmentchanged.Andthen,newproblems,andanewseriesofwars.-Apparentlyendlesslycyclic.
"Considerrelativelymoderntimes.Thereweretheseriesofdynasticwarsinthesixteenthtoeighteenthcenturies,whenthemostimportantquestioninEuropewaswhetherthehousesofHapsburgorValois-Bourbonweretorulethecontinent.Itwasoneofthose’inevitableconflicts,’sinceEuropecouldobviouslynotexisthalfoneandhalftheother.
"Exceptthatitdid,andnowareverwipedouttheoneandestablishedtheother,untiltheriseofanewsocialatmosphereinFrancein1789tumbledfirsttheBourbonsand,eventually,theHapsburgsdownthedustychutetohistory’sincinerator.
