Isaac Asimov: The Last Question (1956) • Hacker News Board

Re: Isaac Asimov: The Last Question (1956)

#71

Post by gwerbin » Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 2:24 PM UTC

PaulHoule wrote: post #35

jasongill wrote: post #2

This is one of those stories, just like the SR-71 "ground speed check" story, that every single time I see it posted I just have to read the entire thing again. I love it.

You better watch out. When my evil twin feels y'all aren't upvoting my posts enough he thinks "let's do a search for articles that have gotten 200+ votes at least 5 times in different years" [1] It's a highly effective strategy that I know dang doesn't like! So I'll post another article about robot grippers which you should upvote instead of the breathless "AI will give us more Nobel Prize winning research" posts bec…

As usual, labor saving is only a good idea if the wealth created is distributed throughout society, not redirected to a small group of people.

Re: Isaac Asimov: The Last Question (1956)

#72

Post by antirez » Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 2:27 PM UTC

I'm happy to see this short story posted here, it is one that I deeply loved when I was 14 or alike, and read it again multiple times. But I wonder: how did it survive in those sites without being shut down by the Asimov writings copyright holders? Given that the story is short and highly shared, it was just tolerated?

EDIT: actually I see that the link historically posted here more often is now dead: multivax.com/last_question.html

Re: Isaac Asimov: The Last Question (1956)

#73

Post by JKCalhoun » Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 2:28 PM UTC

derwiki wrote: post #51

Toutouxc wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it's "The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans", which is often quite problematic.

I loved reading that. Why is it problematic?

Probably because actual people died.

Re: Isaac Asimov: The Last Question (1956)

#74

Post by jimmydddd » Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 2:29 PM UTC

jjice wrote: post #47

An absolute classic! Was just telling a buddy about this one the other day while talking about The Egg by Andy Weir (another short story I really enjoy). Every time I read this one, I get chills at the end. Asimov really was a master.

It's amazing that in the late 1930's, someone with his academic credentials and intellect decided his life would be best spent writing science fiction.

Re: Isaac Asimov: The Last Question (1956)

#75

Post by cdelsolar » Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC

derwiki wrote: post #51

Toutouxc wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it's "The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans", which is often quite problematic.

I loved reading that. Why is it problematic?

I am guessing because it takes hours to read.

Re: Isaac Asimov: The Last Question (1956)

#76

Post by IAmBroom » Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC

mercer wrote: post #39

shivaniShimpi_ wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the LLM parallel does hit different on this read multivac says insufficient data across ten trillion years and the whole story is basically if more compute and more data eventually gets you there. what's weird is the story answers yes, not on any timeframe that helps the people asking tho. feels uncomfortably close to the actual situation where the models keep getting better and the answer keeps being "not yet, ask a…

maybe 42 was just the end of sequence token...

My favorite "explanation" of that answer is that 6*9=42 in base 13.

God's numbering system is "unlucky".

Re: Isaac Asimov: The Last Question (1956)

#77

Post by cdelsolar » Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 2:31 PM UTC

monsieurbanana wrote: post #62

jjoonathan wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Outer Wilds vibes! I love it! (It's a video game that does a brilliant job touching on similar themes to The Last Question. If you liked The Last Question and can fit a video game into your life, you will probably like Outer Wilds. Warning: if you start searching for "outer wilds," the algorithm will aggressively try to spoil you. Progression in the game is gated behind knowledge, so this is worse than usual. If you…

I... Think you just spoiled me. Somehow I've managed to avoid all information about it so far, but now that you said it's like the last question... It's on me for procrastinating playing the game for so long, it was bound to happen.

this sorta comes up very very early in the game tho

Re: Isaac Asimov: The Last Question (1956)

#78

Post by fragmede » Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 2:33 PM UTC

bargainbin wrote: post #43

CGMthrowaway wrote: post #37

>INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL ANSWER Boy, it sure would be nice if real LLMs were capable of giving an answer like that.

You’re absolutely right! I do have insufficient data for a meaningful answer. This is not an *insightful prediction* — it’s *Dunning-Kruger masquerading as qualified intelligence*

Did a human write this?

Re: Isaac Asimov: The Last Question (1956)

#79

Post by satvikpendem » Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 2:33 PM UTC

And then read Asimov's The Last Answer, good dichotomy of stories.

Re: Isaac Asimov: The Last Question (1956)

#80

Post by mwigdahl » Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 2:34 PM UTC

boxed wrote: post #9

bitshiftfaced wrote: post #8

For a while I thought I really liked sci fi novels and short stories, and maybe that's somewhat true. But I've started wondering if maybe I just liked Asimov's writing in particular. Other writers in the genre are more hit or miss. Can anyone recommend other writers that are on his level?

I mean.. a genre can't be all hits, that makes no sense :P If you want good sci-fi a good list can be: - Ender's Game - The Martian + Project Hail Mary - A Fire Upon the Deep - Dune

Neal Stephenson's work is outstanding in my opinion, although some find it polarizing. My favorite of his is _Anathem_, followed closely by _Seveneves_.

Iain Banks's science fiction novels (mostly set in the Culture, but he does have others) are also great.