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The Answer (1954)

https://sfshortstories.com/?p=5983
9•dash2•1h ago

Comments

dash2•1h ago
Direct link: https://archive.org/details/angelsspaceships0000fred/page/36...
dooglius•42m ago
The review is only a little shorter than the story!
ajkjk•50m ago
I think if a story gives you a sense of wonder when you're young, it's a good story, even if it seems cheesy later. Probably the reason it doesn't later is that you saw so many things like that when you were young and they don't surprise you anymore.
joblessjunkie•32m ago
Reminds me quite a bit of Asimov’s “The Last Question”, which mines the same “computer-as-God” vein, is also very short, and has a suspiciously related title. Asimov’s story appeared in 1956, just two years later.
gjm11•21m ago
My exact thought process on seeing the title here: "Ah, 'insufficient data for meaningful answer'. No, wait, that one's called 'The Last Question'. So perhaps it's 'There is now'." :-)

(Asimov's is better. Also, the version of this one in my memory is better than the actual story, in that "There is now" is better than the rather clunky equivalent in the story. I suppose it's possible that I'm remembering a different, slightly better written, story with the exact same idea.)

Animats•25m ago
It's the same story as "Company Man", posted here yesterday. But it was a new idea when Asimov wrote it.
rbanffy•23m ago
You might call it weak and gimmicky all you want, but it entrenched itself deeply into our collective imagination.

I saw many people come up independently with a direct quote from this story when they saw the IBM promotional image of a man standing in front of an IBM Quantum System One machine.

The image: https://www.techmonitor.ai/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2023/...

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