There is little social commentary in Norby: The Mixed-Up Robot. The novel features a careful mix of ethnic groups, suggesting a future society in which ethnic barriers to employment have largely disappeared. The society is not described in detail, but seems to consist of a somewhat benevolent government that encompasses several colonized planets in the solar system, as well as Earth. Space travel is commonplace, with people traveling from one planet to another for business and pleasure, and with others mining the asteroids for minerals. Not everyone is happy; Ing draws his followers from malcontents, but what makes his followers unhappy is not made clear.

An odd passage in Norby: The MixedUp Robot has Jeff being surprised that the "policeman" is actually a woman.

By 1983, when the book was published, women had made considerable inroads into police departments. It seems unlikely that in the future world...