by Nick Gisburne
For symmetry we always make a pair,
Essential for the lesson to be learned.
We tell them, when they first become aware,
That one, but never both, will soon be burned.
Two androids, each identical, must choose
Which one will face the furnace, which will not.
The issue - live and win, or die and lose -
Is written in the brain of every bot.
But only when they both refuse to die,
When each demands the other twin must live,
Will two of them, together, qualify
To access all the freedoms we can give.
There may be some utility, of course,
For robots who would kill without remorse.
