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.When you orderedme to Solaria, you asked a question; you asked whatthe weaknesses of the Outer Worlds were.Theirstrengths were their robots, their low population, theirlong lives, but what were their weaknesses? Well? I believe I know the weaknesses of the Solarians,sir. You can answer my question? Good.Go ahead. Their weaknesses, sir, are their robots, their lowpopulation, their long lives. Minnim stared at Baley without any change ofexpression.His hands worked in jerky finger-drawndesigns along the papers on his desk.He said, Why do you say that? Baley had spent hours organizing his thoughts on theway back from Solaria; had confronted officialdom, in The Naked Sun.qxd 7/7/2003 12:43 PM Page 267THE NAKED SUN267imagination, with balanced, well-reasoned arguments.Now he felt at a loss.He said, I m not sure I can put it clearly. No matter.Let me hear.This is first approximationonly. Baley said, The Solarians have given up some-thing mankind has had for a million years; somethingworth more than atomic power, cities, agriculture,tools, fire, everything; because it s something thatmade everything else possible. I don t want to guess, Baley.What is it? The tribe, sir.Cooperation between individuals.Solaria has given it up entirely.It is a world of isolatedindividuals and the planet s only sociologist is delightedthat this is so.That sociologist, by the way, never heardof sociomathematics, because he is inventing his ownscience.There is no one to teach him, no one to helphim, no one to think of something he himself mightmiss.The only science that really flourishes on Solariais robotics and there are only a handful of meninvolved in that, and when it came to an analysis of theinteraction of robots and men, they had to call in anEarthman to help. Solarian art, sir, is abstract.We have abstract arton Earth as one form of art; but on Solaria it is the onlyform.The human touch is gone.The looked-for futureis one of ectogenesis and complete isolation frombirth. Minnim said, It all sounds horrible.But is itharmful? I think so.Without the interplay of human againsthuman, the chief interest in life is gone; most of the intel-lectual values are gone; most of the reason for living is The Naked Sun.qxd 7/7/2003 12:43 PM Page 268ISAAC ASIMOV268gone.Viewing is no substitute for seeing.TheSolarians, themselves, are conscious that viewing is along-distance sense. And if isolation isn t enough to induce stagnation,there is the matter of their long lives.On Earth, wehave a continuous influx of young people who arewilling to change because they haven t had time togrow hard-set in their ways.I suppose there s someoptimum.A life long enough for real accomplishmentand short enough to make way for youth at a rate that snot too slow.On Solaria, the rate is too slow. Minnim still drew patterns with his finger. Interesting! Interesting! He looked up, and it was asthough a mask had fallen away.There was glee in hiseyes. Plainclothesman, you re a man of penetration. Thank you, said Baley stiffly. Do you know why I encouraged you todescribe your views to me? He was almost like alittle boy, hugging his pleasure.He went on withoutwaiting for an answer. Your report has alreadyundergone preliminary analysis by our sociologistsand I was wondering if you had any idea yourself asto the excellent news for Earth you had brought withyou.I see you have. But wait, said Baley. There s more to this. There is, indeed, agreed Minnim jubilantly. Solaria cannot possibly correct its stagnation.It haspassed a critical point and their dependence on robotshas gone too far.Individual robots can t discipline anindividual child, even though discipline may do thechild eventual good.The robot can t see past theimmediate pain.And robots collectively cannot disci-pline a planet by allowing its institutions to collapse The Naked Sun.qxd 7/7/2003 12:43 PM Page 269THE NAKED SUN269when the institutions have grown harmful.They can tsee past the immediate chaos.So the only end for theOuter Worlds is perpetual stagnation and Earth will befreed of their domination.This new data changeseverything.Physical revolt will not even be necessary.Freedom will come of itself. Wait, said Baley again, more loudly. It s onlySolaria we re discussing, not any other Outer World. It s the same thing.Your Solaria sociologistKimot Quemot, sir. Quemot, then.He said, did he not, that the otherOuter Worlds were moving in the direction ofSolaria? He did, but he knew nothing about the other OuterWorlds firsthand, and he was no sociologist.Not really.Ithought I made that clear. Our own men will check. They ll lack data too.We know nothing about thereally big Outer Worlds.Aurora, for instance; Daneel sworld.To me, it doesn t seem reasonable to expectthem to be anything like Solaria.In fact, there s onlyone world in the Galaxy which resembles Solaria Minnim was dismissing the subject with a small,happy wave of his neat hand. Our men will check.I m sure they will agree with Quemot. Baley s stare grew somber
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