The Last Question (1956)

#1

Post by throwaway2419 » Sun, Jan 06, 2019, 4:34 PM UTC

The Last Question (1956)
multivax.com

Re: The Last Question (1956)

#2

Post by joejerryronnie » Sun, Jan 06, 2019, 5:22 PM UTC

My favorite short story, I re-read probably once a year when I stumble across a random reference to it.

Re: The Last Question (1956)

#3

Post by hprotagonist » Sun, Jan 06, 2019, 5:24 PM UTC

joejerryronnie wrote: post #2

My favorite short story, I re-read probably once a year when I stumble across a random reference to it.

“For a Breath I Tarry” is also wonderful.

http://www.kulichki.com/moshkow/ZELQZNY/forbreat.txt

Re: The Last Question (1956)

#4

Post by jdmoreira » Sun, Jan 06, 2019, 5:51 PM UTC

I read this when I was a pre-teen because my grandmother's brother gave me a compilation of asimov stories named '9 Tomorrows' and this story is one of them. The whole book really blew my mind!

I always wanted a laptop sticker saying 'My other computer is the multivac'

Re: The Last Question (1956)

#5

Post by tauwauwau » Sun, Jan 06, 2019, 6:15 PM UTC

Manga adaption

https://mangadex.org/chapter/39016/1

Re: The Last Question (1956)

#6

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jan 06, 2019, 6:25 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: The Last Question (1956)

#7

Post by daverdo » Sun, Jan 06, 2019, 6:47 PM UTC

I can't explain it exactly, but somehow being written over 60+ years ago adds this other layer where you have this funny feeling of looking into the past to see the future.

Re: The Last Question (1956)

#8

Post by krispbyte » Sun, Jan 06, 2019, 6:50 PM UTC

There's also another short story by Asimov called The Last Answer https://www.thrivenotes.com/the-last-answer/

Re: The Last Question (1956)

#9

Post by not2b » Sun, Jan 06, 2019, 7:00 PM UTC

The story was written after the invention of the transistor, but it seems Asimov hadn't heard of them or didn't grasp the implications, and assumed that computers would be based on tubes (or valves, the word used in the story) for billions of years into the future (but eventually they would be "molecular valves" and a powerful computer could be only half the size of a spaceship).

Re: The Last Question (1956)

#10

Post by overlordalex » Sun, Jan 06, 2019, 7:34 PM UTC

hprotagonist wrote: post #3

joejerryronnie wrote: post #2

My favorite short story, I re-read probably once a year when I stumble across a random reference to it.

“For a Breath I Tarry” is also wonderful. http://www.kulichki.com/moshkow/ZELQZNY/forbreat.txt

That was a wonderful story but has a somehow unsatisfactory conclusion to the question. Spoilers below

SPOILER

The story appears to assert that to be human you need to have the imperfect faculties of a human body, but I would say that Frost started becoming human upon his creation which gave him curiosity