R.U.R. | Page 8

of times, not very often,
mind, they have shown some resistance...
Helena: What?
Hallemeier: Well, nothing in particular, just that sometimes they seem to, sort of, go
silent. It's almost like some kind of epileptic fit. 'Robot cramp', we call it. Or sometimes
one of them might suddenly smash whatever's in its hand, or stand still, or grind their
teeth-- and then they just have to go on the scrap heap. It's clearly just some technical
disorder.
Domin: Some kind of fault in the production.
Helena: No, no, that's their soul!
Fabry: Do you think that grinding teeth is the beginnings of a soul?
Domin: We can solve that problem, Miss Glory. Doctor Gall is carrying out some
experiments right now.
Dr. Gall: No, not quite yet, Domin, at present I'm working on nerves for feeling pain.
Helena: Nerves for feeling pain?
Dr. Gall: That's right. Robots have virtually no sense of physical pain, as young Rossum
simplified the nervous system a bit too much. That turns out to have been a mistake and
so we're working on pain now.
Helena: Why... why... if you don't give them a soul why do you want to give them pain?

Dr. Gall: For good industrial reasons, Miss Glory. The robots sometimes cause
themselves damage because it causes them no pain; they do things such as pushing their
hand into a machine, cutting off a finger or even smash their heads in. It just doesn't
matter to them. But if they have pain it'll be an automatic protection against injuries.
Helena: Will they be any the happier when they can feel pain?
Dr. Gall: Quite the opposite, but it will be a technical improvement.
Helena: Why don't you create a soul for them?
Dr. Gall: That's not within our power.
Fabry: That wouldn't be in our interest.
Busman: That would raise production costs. Just think how cheaply we make them; a
hundred and twenty dollars each, complete with clothing, and fifteen years ago they cost
ten thousand! Five years ago we still had to buy the clothes for them, but now we have
our own weaving mills and even sell material at a fifth of the price of other mills. Tell me,
Miss Glory, what is it you pay for a metre of cloth?
Helena: I don't know... I really don't know... I've forgotten.
Busman: Dear dear me, and you were wanting to establish the League of Humanity!
Cloth nowadays is three times cheaper, miss, the prices of everything are three times
cheaper and they're still going down and down and down.
Helena: I don't see what you mean.
Busman: Dear lady, what I mean is that the price of labour is getting cheaper! Even with
its food, a robot costs no more than three quarters of a cent per hour! It's wonderful;
every factory is buying robots as quick as they can to reduce production costs, and those
that aren't are going bankrupt.
Helena: Yes, that's right, and throwing their workers out on the streets.
Busman: Haha, well of course they are! And while they are doing that we are putting five
hundred thousand tropical robots out on the Argentine pampas to cultivate wheat. Tell me,
what does a loaf of bread cost where you come from?
Helena: I've no idea.
Busman: There, you see; in good old Europe, a loaf of bread now costs two cents; but
that bread comes from us, do you see? Two cents a loaf; and the League of Humanity has
no idea! Haha, Miss Glory, you do not even know if you are paying too much for a crust.
Or too much for society or for anything else. But in five years' time, dear me, do sit
down!

Helena: What?
Busman: In five years' time, the price will be a tenth of a cent. We'll be drowning in
wheat and in everything else you can think of.
Alquist: Yes, and all the workers in the world will be out of a job.
Domin: (standing) Yes, they will be, Alquist. They will be, Miss Glory. But in ten years'
time Rossum's Universal Robots will be making so much wheat, so much material, so
much of everything that nothing will cost anything. Everyone will be able to just take as
much as he needs. Nobody will live in poverty. They won't have jobs, that's true, but
that's because there won't be any jobs to do. Everything will be done by living machines.
People will do only the things they want to do, they can live their lives just so that they
can make themselves perfect.
Helena: (standing) Do you think that's really going to happen?
Domin: That's really going to happen. It couldn't possibly not happen. There might be
some terrible things that happen before