1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:08,839 Speaker 1: Understand the thinking atheist. It's not a person, it's a symbol, 2 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:10,000 an idea. 3 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:13,519 Speaker 2: The population of atheists this country is going through the. 4 00:00:13,519 --> 00:00:19,039 Speaker 1: Rule, rejecting faith, pursuing knowledge, challenging the sacred. If I 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:23,160 tell the truth, it's because I tell the truth, not because. 6 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:24,839 Speaker 2: I put my hand on a book and made a. 7 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:28,839 Speaker 1: Wish and working together for a more rational world. 8 00:00:29,079 --> 00:00:32,039 Speaker 2: Take the risk of thinking. Feel so much more happiness. 9 00:00:32,079 --> 00:00:34,679 Truth Fusian wisdom will come to you that way. 10 00:00:35,679 --> 00:00:43,520 Speaker 1: Assume nothing, question everything, and start thinking. This is the 11 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:50,119 Thinking Atheist podcast hosted by Seth Andrews. 12 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,399 Speaker 2: So I was hosting the line with Forrest BALCAI wasn't 13 00:01:00,679 --> 00:01:03,079 too long ago and we were talking about AI. A 14 00:01:03,159 --> 00:01:05,680 caller was asking, well, do you think that AI will 15 00:01:05,719 --> 00:01:09,680 develop to the point where human beings are pushed out 16 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:13,599 of the equation? AI starts making decisions based on its 17 00:01:13,599 --> 00:01:18,480 own interests and we either become slaves or go extinct. 18 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,680 And by go extinct, I mean we are killed by 19 00:01:21,719 --> 00:01:26,760 the technology that we have created. Have we created the monster? 20 00:01:27,719 --> 00:01:31,319 And you know, obviously nobody knows the answer to the question. 21 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:34,439 We're all looking around wondering what does the future hold 22 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:38,239 for better and worse. I think Forrest and I agree 23 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:42,599 that we had hoped technology would exist so that the 24 00:01:42,599 --> 00:01:46,719 more menial tasks that human beings do could be taken 25 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:49,239 over by the robots, so to speak, so that we 26 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:52,319 could be more human. We could create and build and 27 00:01:52,359 --> 00:01:55,159 grow and evolve and make the world a better place. 28 00:01:55,319 --> 00:01:59,920 Technology served us and sort of opened up the doors 29 00:02:00,319 --> 00:02:03,879 for creators, and instead, what we have seen with AI 30 00:02:04,079 --> 00:02:07,599 in many cases is that the AI is stealing from 31 00:02:07,599 --> 00:02:11,840 the creators, stealing opportunities and often stealing the actual work, 32 00:02:11,879 --> 00:02:14,840 going around and grabbing parts of creative works that were 33 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:19,159 made by human beings and mixing it all around and saying, oh, look, 34 00:02:19,319 --> 00:02:22,560 you know here, take this. It's free or it's super cheap. 35 00:02:22,599 --> 00:02:28,919 And our thinkers, our architects, our builders, our creators, our painters, 36 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:33,400 our musicians, our visionaries are then pushed to the back 37 00:02:33,439 --> 00:02:36,240 of the line, and they're wondering, Wait a minute. I 38 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,879 thought technology was supposed to help us, not replace us. 39 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:44,479 This was the nature of the conversation, and Forrest brought 40 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:47,800 up a story that I had never heard of before, 41 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:54,800 written by the famous biochemistry professor and American writer Isaac Asimov. Now, 42 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:59,919 for the record, Isaac Asimov was an amazing science fiction writers, 43 00:03:00,039 --> 00:03:03,360 considered one of the best of the twentieth century, perhaps 44 00:03:03,439 --> 00:03:05,879 one of the best of all times. He wrote or 45 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:10,759 edited more than five hundred books in his lifetime. He 46 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:14,439 became a naturalized citizen of the United States in nineteen 47 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,400 twenty eight. Went to high school in New York, then 48 00:03:17,439 --> 00:03:22,719 attended college several colleges, including Columbia, got a doctorate of 49 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:28,039 philosophy in chemistry, and then continued his education learning French 50 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:32,960 and German. He served in the United States Navy, was 51 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:37,240 an associate professor of biochemistry at the Boston University School 52 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:41,319 of Medicine. Won a series of awards for his work 53 00:03:41,479 --> 00:03:46,280 in science, became a popular science communicator. He was invited 54 00:03:46,319 --> 00:03:51,120 to speak for academics and for places like science fiction conventions. 55 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:53,240 You probably know, if you're a Star Trek fan, that 56 00:03:53,319 --> 00:03:57,280 Isaac Asimov and Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, 57 00:03:57,560 --> 00:03:59,919 they were friends. I think Gene Roddenberry used to like 58 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,000 to play the Asimov card. Ah, yeah, you know, whenever 59 00:04:03,039 --> 00:04:05,560 he's making a defense of how the science should work 60 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:07,879 in Star Trek, he would be like, well, my buddy, 61 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:11,599 Isaac Asimov says, it would be like this or that 62 00:04:11,719 --> 00:04:14,960 couldn't happen. As I understand it, after reading so much 63 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,800 about the making of Star Trek. I guess that was just, 64 00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:21,120 you know, it kind of irritated some people, like, oh God, 65 00:04:21,199 --> 00:04:24,959 you know, here he goes again with Asimov. But the 66 00:04:25,079 --> 00:04:28,279 guy was a sign He was a special science consultant 67 00:04:28,319 --> 00:04:32,519 on Star Trek the motion picture, and he was a humanist. 68 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,800 In fact, in nineteen eighty four, the American Humanist Association 69 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:39,920 named him Humanist of the Year. He was one of 70 00:04:39,959 --> 00:04:45,319 the signers of a publication called the Humanist Manifesto. It 71 00:04:45,439 --> 00:04:51,680 rejected theism, deism, the after life, It opposed racism, weapons 72 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:56,040 of mass destruction. It promoted human rights, courts of law, 73 00:04:56,439 --> 00:05:02,199 unrestricted reproductive choice, contraception and ibiotics, the right to divorce, 74 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:07,759 death with dignity, etc. So that was Isaac Asimov and 75 00:05:08,639 --> 00:05:14,439 Forrest Valki was mentioning this work that related to today's 76 00:05:14,519 --> 00:05:19,040 conversation about AI, a short story called The Last Question, 77 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,759 and the pdf is free online. He just pulled it 78 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:26,240 up and I book marked it on my browser, and 79 00:05:26,319 --> 00:05:28,560 I went back and I read it, and I thought, 80 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:32,319 oh my goodness, I would like to read this for you. 81 00:05:33,399 --> 00:05:37,240 Isaac himself said, this is by far my favorite story 82 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:40,360 of all those I have written. After all, I undertook 83 00:05:40,439 --> 00:05:43,600 to tell several trillion years of human history in the 84 00:05:43,639 --> 00:05:46,360 space of a short story, and I leave it to 85 00:05:46,439 --> 00:05:50,360 you as to how well I succeeded. I also undertook 86 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:53,160 another task, but I won't tell you what that was 87 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:56,879 lest I spoil the story for you. It is a 88 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:00,040 curious fact that innumerable readers have asked me if I 89 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,279 I wrote this story. They seem never to remember the 90 00:06:03,319 --> 00:06:07,319 title of the story or for sure the author, except 91 00:06:07,319 --> 00:06:10,120 for the vague thought it might be me. But of 92 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:14,680 course they never forget the story itself, especially the ending. 93 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:19,800 The idea seems to drown out everything, and I'm satisfied 94 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:24,360 that it should. So let me read this for you. Here. 95 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:29,000 It comes to about nine typed pages. I don't know 96 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,079 what the time on that is going to be. I'm 97 00:06:31,079 --> 00:06:33,600 not going to take any commercial breaks to interrupt it. 98 00:06:33,639 --> 00:06:35,879 We're just going to go front to back together. So 99 00:06:36,319 --> 00:06:40,240 grab a glass of wine, a warm blanket, to comfy chair, 100 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:44,480 and let's take the journey together. The last question by 101 00:06:44,680 --> 00:07:00,000 Isaac Asimov. The last question was asked for the first 102 00:07:00,199 --> 00:07:04,240 time half in jest on May twenty first, twenty sixty one, 103 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,519 at a time when humanity first stepped into the light. 104 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:11,560 The question came about as a result of a five 105 00:07:11,639 --> 00:07:15,079 dollars bet over high balls, and it happened this way. 106 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:20,279 Alexander Adele and Bertram Loophov were two of the faithful 107 00:07:20,279 --> 00:07:24,639 attendants of MULTIVAC. As well as any human beings, could 108 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,600 they knew what lay behind the cold, clicking, flashing face 109 00:07:28,959 --> 00:07:33,839 miles and miles of face of that giant computer. They 110 00:07:33,879 --> 00:07:36,720 had at least a vague notion of the general plan 111 00:07:36,879 --> 00:07:39,959 of relays and circuits that had long since ground past 112 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:43,240 the point where any single human could possibly have a 113 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:47,800 firm grasp of the whole. MULTIVAC was self adjusting and 114 00:07:47,839 --> 00:07:51,279 self correcting. It had to be, for nothing human could 115 00:07:51,279 --> 00:07:54,920 adjust and correct it quickly enough or even adequately enough. 116 00:07:55,000 --> 00:08:00,279 So Adele and Loopov attended the monstrous giant only lightly 117 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:05,120 and superficially, yet as well as any men could. They 118 00:08:05,199 --> 00:08:09,360 fed it data, adjusted questions to its needs, and translated 119 00:08:09,399 --> 00:08:13,439 the answers that were issued. Certainly, they and all others 120 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,839 like them were fully entitled to share in the glory 121 00:08:16,959 --> 00:08:21,879 that was MULTIVAC. For decades Multivac had helped design the 122 00:08:21,959 --> 00:08:25,680 ships and plot the trajectories that enabled man to reach 123 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,759 the Moon, Mars, and Venus, but past that Earth's poor 124 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:34,360 resources could not support the ships. Too much energy was 125 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:38,120 needed for the long trips. Earth exploited its coal and 126 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:42,360 uranium with increasing efficiency, but there was only so much 127 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:46,679 of both. But slowly Multivac learned enough to answer deeper 128 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:51,320 questions more fundamentally, and on May the fourteenth, twenty sixty one, 129 00:08:51,519 --> 00:08:56,120 what had been theory became fact. The energy of the 130 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:00,840 Sun was stored, converted, and utilized directly on a planet 131 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:05,360 wide scale. All Earth turned off its burning coal, its 132 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:09,399 fishing uranium, and flipped the switch that connected all of 133 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:14,039 it to a small station one mile in diameter, circling 134 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,200 the Earth at half the distance of the Moon. All 135 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:22,399 Earth ran by invisible beams of sun power. Seven days 136 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:25,399 had not sufficed to dim the glory of it, and 137 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:29,360 Adele and Loupov finally managed to escape from the public 138 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:32,559 functions and to meet in quiet where no one would 139 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:36,840 think of looking for them, in the deserted underground chambers, 140 00:09:36,879 --> 00:09:40,759 where portions of the mighty buried body of Multivac showed 141 00:09:41,519 --> 00:09:47,919 unattended idling sorting data with contented, lazy clickings. Multivac two 142 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:52,320 had earned its vacation, and the boys appreciated that they 143 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:57,120 had no intention originally of disturbing it. They had brought 144 00:09:57,120 --> 00:09:59,600 a bottle with them, and their only concerned at the 145 00:09:59,639 --> 00:10:02,360 moment was to relax in the company of each other 146 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,000 and the bottle. It's amazing when you think of it, 147 00:10:06,039 --> 00:10:09,919 said Adele. His broad face had lines of weariness in it, 148 00:10:10,039 --> 00:10:13,360 and he stirred his drink slowly with a glass rod, 149 00:10:13,879 --> 00:10:18,039 watching the cubes of ice slur clumsily. About all the 150 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:22,360 energy we can possibly ever use for free, enough energy 151 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:25,720 if we wanted to draw on it, to melt all 152 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:29,600 earth into a big drop of impure liquid iron, and 153 00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:33,960 still never missed the energy. So used all the energy 154 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:38,159 we could ever use, forever and ever and ever. Loupov 155 00:10:38,279 --> 00:10:41,480 cocked his head sideways. He had a trick of doing 156 00:10:41,519 --> 00:10:44,240 that when he wanted to be contrary, and he wanted 157 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,639 to be contrary now, partly because he had to carry 158 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:53,120 the ice and glassware. Not forever, he said, oh, hell, 159 00:10:53,519 --> 00:10:57,919 just about forever till the sun runs down. Bert, that's 160 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:02,559 not forever, all right, then, billions and billions of years. 161 00:11:02,639 --> 00:11:07,440 Ten billion? Maybe, are you satisfied? Lupov put his fingers 162 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:11,240 through his thinning hair as to reassure himself that some 163 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,799 was still left, then sipped gently at his own drink. 164 00:11:15,639 --> 00:11:20,879 Ten billion years isn't forever? Well? It will last our time, 165 00:11:21,039 --> 00:11:25,519 won't it? So would the coal and uranium? All right, 166 00:11:25,799 --> 00:11:29,200 but now we can look up each individual spaceship to 167 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:32,440 the solar station and it can go to Pluto and 168 00:11:32,519 --> 00:11:36,279 back a million times without ever worrying about fuel. You 169 00:11:36,399 --> 00:11:40,639 can't do that on coal and uranium. Ask Multivac. If 170 00:11:40,639 --> 00:11:44,360 you don't believe me, I don't have to ask Multivac. 171 00:11:44,759 --> 00:11:48,879 I know that. Then stop running down what Multivac's done 172 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:52,639 for us, said Adele, blazing up. It did, all right? 173 00:11:53,519 --> 00:11:56,240 Who says it didn't? What I say is that a 174 00:11:56,360 --> 00:12:00,320 sun won't last forever? That's all I'm saying. We're for 175 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:05,600 ten billion years? But then what Loopov pointed a slightly 176 00:12:05,759 --> 00:12:09,120 shaky finger at the other, and don't say we'll switch 177 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:14,840 to another sun. There was silence for a while. Adele 178 00:12:14,879 --> 00:12:18,639 put his glass on his lips only occasionally, and Loopov's 179 00:12:18,639 --> 00:12:24,879 eyes slowly closed. They rested. Then Loopov's eyes snapped open 180 00:12:25,799 --> 00:12:29,559 you're thinking we'll switch to another sun when ours is done, 181 00:12:29,639 --> 00:12:34,919 aren't you. I'm not thinking, Sure you are. You're weak 182 00:12:35,039 --> 00:12:38,159 on logic. That's the trouble with you. You're like the 183 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:41,039 guy in the story who was caught in a sudden shower, 184 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,080 who ran to a grove of trees and got under one. 185 00:12:44,159 --> 00:12:47,360 He wasn't worried, you see, because he figured when one 186 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:51,480 tree got wet through, he would just get under another one. 187 00:12:52,039 --> 00:12:55,679 I get it, said Adele. Don't shout. When the sun 188 00:12:55,720 --> 00:13:00,519 has done, the other stars will be gone too, aren't right? 189 00:13:00,639 --> 00:13:04,159 They will muttered lupwon It all had a beginning in 190 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:07,799 the original cosmic explosion, whatever that was, And it'll all 191 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:11,200 have an end when the stars run down. Some run 192 00:13:11,279 --> 00:13:15,159 down faster than others. Hell, the giants won't last one 193 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:19,399 hundred million years, The sun will last ten billion years, 194 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,639 and maybe the dwarfs will last two hundred billion, for 195 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:25,279 all the good they are, but just give us a 196 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:29,879 trillion years and everything will be dark. Entropy has to 197 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:35,799 increase two maximum. That's all I know all about entropy, 198 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:40,120 said Adele, standing on his dignity. The hell you do. 199 00:13:40,399 --> 00:13:43,159 I know as much as you do. Then you know 200 00:13:43,279 --> 00:13:48,240 everything's got to run down someday, all right, who says 201 00:13:48,279 --> 00:13:52,240 they won't? You did your poor sap. You said we 202 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:56,480 had all the energy we needed forever. You said forever. 203 00:13:57,759 --> 00:14:01,480 It was Adele's turn to be contrary. Maybe we can 204 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:08,799 build things up again someday, he said, never, Why not? Someday? 205 00:14:09,399 --> 00:14:15,440 Never ask multivac. You ask multivac, I dare you? Five 206 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:20,039 dollars says it can't be done. Adele was just drunk 207 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:23,159 enough to try, just sober enough to be able to 208 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:27,120 phrase the necessary symbols and operations into a question, which, 209 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:32,240 in words, might have corresponded to this, will mankind one 210 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:36,679 day without the net expenditure of energy be able to 211 00:14:36,799 --> 00:14:41,399 restore the Sun to its full youthfulness, even after it 212 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:45,200 had died of old age, Or maybe it could be 213 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:48,440 put more simply like this, how can the net amount 214 00:14:48,559 --> 00:14:54,879 of entropy of the universe be massively decreased? Multivac fell 215 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:59,200 dead and silent, The slow flashing of light ceased, the 216 00:14:59,279 --> 00:15:04,120 distant sound of clicking relays ended. Then, just as the 217 00:15:04,159 --> 00:15:07,639 frightened technicians felt they could hold their breath no longer, 218 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:10,799 there was a sudden springing to life of the teletype 219 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:15,639 attached to that portion of multivac. Five words were printed, 220 00:15:16,399 --> 00:15:23,720 insufficient data for meaningful answer. No bets, whispered Loopov. They 221 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:28,440 left hurriedly. By next morning, the two, plagued with throbbing 222 00:15:28,559 --> 00:15:43,120 head and cottony mouth, had forgotten the incident. Jared, Jaredine 223 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:47,440 and Jaredetts one and two watched the starry picture in 224 00:15:47,519 --> 00:15:52,679 the visiplate change as the passage through hyperspace was completed 225 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:57,240 in its non time laps, and once the even powdering 226 00:15:57,279 --> 00:16:01,039 of stars gave way to the predominance a single bright, 227 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:04,519 shining disc the size of a marble, centered on the 228 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:10,399 viewing screen. That's X twenty three, said Jared confidently, His 229 00:16:10,559 --> 00:16:14,519 thin hands clamped tightly behind his back and the knuckles 230 00:16:14,639 --> 00:16:20,360 whitened the little jardettes. Both girls had experienced the hyperspace 231 00:16:20,519 --> 00:16:23,039 passage for the first time in their lives and were 232 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:28,000 self conscious over the momentary sensation of inside out ness. 233 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:32,360 They buried their giggles and chased one another wildly about 234 00:16:32,399 --> 00:16:37,159 their mother, screaming, we've reached X twenty three. We've reached 235 00:16:37,399 --> 00:16:43,399 X twenty three. We've quiet children, said Jareddine sharply. Are 236 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:47,440 you sure, Jared? What is there to be? But sure? 237 00:16:47,799 --> 00:16:51,799 Asked Jared, glancing up at the bulge of featureless metal 238 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,159 just under the ceiling. It ran the length of the room, 239 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,759 disappearing through the wall at either end. It was as 240 00:16:58,879 --> 00:17:03,279 long as the ship. Jared scarcely knew about the thick 241 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:06,640 rod of metal, except that it was called a MICROVAC, 242 00:17:07,319 --> 00:17:11,119 that one asked it questions if one wished that if 243 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:14,680 one did not, it still had its task of guiding 244 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:18,240 the ship to a pre ordered destination, of feeding on 245 00:17:18,559 --> 00:17:23,519 energies from the various subgalactic power stations, of computing the 246 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:28,480 equations for the hyperspatial jumps. Jared and his family had 247 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:32,039 only to wait and live in the comfortable residence quarters 248 00:17:32,079 --> 00:17:35,440 of the ship. Someone had once told Jared that the 249 00:17:35,599 --> 00:17:40,799 AC at the end of MICROVAC stood for automatic computer 250 00:17:41,319 --> 00:17:44,839 in ancient English, but he was on the edge of 251 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:50,240 forgetting even that. Jareddine's eyes were moist as she watched 252 00:17:50,279 --> 00:17:55,039 the visiplate. I can't help it. I feel funny about 253 00:17:55,119 --> 00:18:00,279 leaving Earth. Why for Pete's sake, demanded Jared. We had 254 00:18:00,279 --> 00:18:04,119 nothing there. We'll have everything on X twenty three. You 255 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:07,640 won't be alone, you won't be a pioneer. There are 256 00:18:07,759 --> 00:18:11,160 over a million people on the planet already. Good Lord, 257 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:14,920 our great grandchildren will be looking for new worlds because 258 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:20,440 X twenty three will be overcrowded. Then, after a reflective pause, 259 00:18:21,279 --> 00:18:23,920 I tell you it's a lucky thing. The computers worked 260 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:28,079 out interstellar travel the way the race is growing. I know, 261 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:33,440 I know, said Jeredine miserably. Jared at one said promptly, 262 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:39,000 our microvac is the best microvac in the world. I 263 00:18:39,039 --> 00:18:43,599 think so too, said Jared, tussling her hair. It was 264 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,200 a nice feeling to have a microvac of your own, 265 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:49,079 and Jared was glad he was part of his generation 266 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:53,039 and no other. In his father's youth, the only computers 267 00:18:53,039 --> 00:18:56,960 had been tremendous machines, taking up one hundred square miles 268 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,839 of land. There was only one to a planet, planetary 269 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:04,960 acs they were called. They'd been growing in size steadily 270 00:19:05,079 --> 00:19:09,319 for a thousand years, and then all at once came refinement. 271 00:19:09,759 --> 00:19:13,880 In place of transistors had come molecular valves, so that 272 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,799 even the largest planetary AC could be put into a 273 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:23,759 space only half the volume of a spaceship. Jared felt uplifted, 274 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:26,519 as he always did when he thought his own personal 275 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:30,559 microvac was many times more complicated than the ancient and 276 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:34,920 primitive multivac that had first tamed the Sun, and almost 277 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:39,920 as complicated as Earth's planetary ac, the largest that had 278 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,799 first solved the problem of hyperspatial travel and had made 279 00:19:43,799 --> 00:19:49,359 trips to the stars possible. So many stars, so many planets, 280 00:19:49,759 --> 00:19:54,000 sighed Jeredine, busy with her own thoughts. I suppose families 281 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,839 will be going out to new planets forever the way 282 00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:01,119 we are now. Not forever, said Jared with a smile. 283 00:20:01,559 --> 00:20:05,000 It will all stop someday, but not for billions of years, 284 00:20:05,039 --> 00:20:09,480 many billions. Even the stars run down. You know, entropy 285 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:18,160 must increase. What's entropy, Daddy, shrilled jaredet two. Entropy, little 286 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:21,359 sweet is just a word which means the amount of 287 00:20:21,559 --> 00:20:25,240 running down of the universe. Everything runs down, you know, 288 00:20:25,799 --> 00:20:30,119 like you're a little walkie talkie robot. Remember can't you 289 00:20:30,279 --> 00:20:33,359 just put in a new power unit like with my robot? 290 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,759 The stars are power units, dear. Once they're gone, there 291 00:20:37,799 --> 00:20:42,799 are no more power units, jaredet one. At once set 292 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:46,039 up a howl. Don't let them, daddy, don't let the 293 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:51,799 stars run down. Now, look what you've done, whispered Jaredine. Exasperated. 294 00:20:52,319 --> 00:20:55,000 How was I to know it would frighten them? Jared 295 00:20:55,079 --> 00:21:00,880 whispered back, ask the microvac whale jaredet one ask him 296 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:06,200 how to turn the stars on again. Go ahead, said jaredine, 297 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:10,440 it will quiet them down. Jaredat too, was beginning to 298 00:21:10,559 --> 00:21:16,680 cry also. Jared shrugged. Now, now, honeys, I'll ask microvac. 299 00:21:16,799 --> 00:21:21,440 Don't worry, He'll tell us. He asked the microvac, adding 300 00:21:21,599 --> 00:21:27,200 quickly print the answer. Jared cupped the strip of thin 301 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:31,680 cell you film and said, cheerfully. See now, the microvac 302 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:34,920 says it will take care of everything when the time comes. 303 00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:40,240 So don't worry, Jaredine said, And now, children, it's time 304 00:21:40,279 --> 00:21:45,039 for bed. We'll be in our new home soon. Jared 305 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,559 read the words on the cell you film again before 306 00:21:48,599 --> 00:21:54,839 destroying it. There is insufficient data for a meaningful answer. 307 00:21:56,079 --> 00:21:59,880 He shrugged and looked at the visiplate X twenty three 308 00:22:00,319 --> 00:22:13,319 was just ahead VJ twenty three x of la Mef 309 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:17,000 stared into the black depths of a three dimensional small 310 00:22:17,079 --> 00:22:21,279 scale map of the galaxy and said, are we ridiculous? 311 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:25,960 I wonder in being so concerned about the matter MQ 312 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:29,920 seventeen j of Nikron shook his head. I think not. 313 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,559 You know, the galaxy will be filled in five years 314 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:37,519 at the present rate of expansion. Both seemed in their 315 00:22:37,559 --> 00:22:42,559 early twenties. Both were tall and perfectly formed. Still, said 316 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:46,759 VJ twenty three X. I hesitate to submit a pessimistic 317 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:51,000 report to the Galactic Council. I wouldn't consider any other 318 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:53,839 kind of reports. Stir them up a bit. We've got 319 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:59,480 to stir them up. VJ twenty three X. Side space 320 00:22:59,759 --> 00:23:04,240 is infinite. Te hundred billion galaxies are there for the taking. 321 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:09,200 More one hundred billion is not infinite, and it's getting 322 00:23:09,319 --> 00:23:13,640 less infinite all the time. Consider twenty thousand years ago, 323 00:23:13,799 --> 00:23:18,519 mankind first solved the problem of utilizing stellar energy, and 324 00:23:18,599 --> 00:23:23,200 a few centuries later enter stellar travel became possible. It 325 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:27,039 took mankind a million years to fill one small world, 326 00:23:27,079 --> 00:23:30,880 and then only fifteen thousand years to fill the rest 327 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:35,200 of the galaxy. Now the population doubles every ten years. 328 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:40,839 VJ twenty three X interrupted. We can thank immortality for that. 329 00:23:42,039 --> 00:23:45,720 Very well. Immortality exists, and we have to take it 330 00:23:45,799 --> 00:23:50,920 into account. I admit it has its seamy side, this immortality. 331 00:23:51,319 --> 00:23:54,880 The Galactic ac has solved many problems for us, but 332 00:23:55,039 --> 00:23:58,440 in solving the problem of preventing old age and death. 333 00:23:59,039 --> 00:24:03,279 It has undone and all its other solutions. Yet you 334 00:24:03,319 --> 00:24:07,440 wouldn't want to abandon life, I suppose, not at all, 335 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:13,000 snapped MQ seventeen J softening it at once too. Not yet, 336 00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:16,680 I'm by no means old enough. How old are you 337 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:22,559 two hundred twenty three and you I'm still under two hundred. 338 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:26,279 But to get back to my point, population doubles every 339 00:24:26,319 --> 00:24:30,240 ten years. Once this galaxy is filled, will have filled 340 00:24:30,279 --> 00:24:33,599 another in ten years, Another ten years and we will 341 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:38,440 have filled two more, another decade, four more, and one 342 00:24:38,519 --> 00:24:42,000 hundred years will have filled one thousand galaxies in a 343 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:47,119 thousand years, a million galaxies in ten thousand years, the 344 00:24:47,279 --> 00:24:53,720 entire known universe than what VJ twenty three X said. 345 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:58,039 As a side issue, there's a problem of transportation. I 346 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:00,519 wonder how many sun power units it will take to 347 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:05,000 move galaxies of individuals from one galaxy to the next. 348 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:10,440 A very good point. Already, mankind consumes two sun power 349 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,759 units per year, most of it is wasted. After all. 350 00:25:14,839 --> 00:25:18,240 Our own galaxy alone pours out a thousand sun power 351 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:22,960 units a year, and we only use two of those. Granted, 352 00:25:23,319 --> 00:25:26,880 But even with one hundred percent efficiency. We only stave 353 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:30,920 off the end. Our energy requirements are going up in 354 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:35,759 a geometric progression even faster than our population. We'll run 355 00:25:35,799 --> 00:25:40,119 out of energy even sooner than we'll run out of galaxies. 356 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:44,759 A good point, A very good point. We'll just have 357 00:25:44,839 --> 00:25:49,480 to build new stars out of interstellar gas or out 358 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:56,039 of dissipated heat. Ask MQ seventeen J sarcastically, there may 359 00:25:56,079 --> 00:25:59,640 be some way to reverse entropy. We ought to ask 360 00:25:59,799 --> 00:26:05,079 the galactic AC. VJ twenty three X was not really serious, 361 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:09,480 but MQ seventeen J pulled out his AC contact from 362 00:26:09,519 --> 00:26:12,799 his pocket and placed it on the table before him. 363 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,319 I've half a mind to he said. It's something the 364 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:21,079 human race will have to face someday. He stared somberly 365 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:24,640 at his small AC contact. It was only two inches 366 00:26:24,799 --> 00:26:28,559 cubed and nothing in itself, but it was connected through 367 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:33,799 hyperspace with the great Galactic AC that served all mankind 368 00:26:34,519 --> 00:26:38,839 hyperspace considered, it was an integral part of the Galactic AC. 369 00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:44,319 MQ seventeen J paused to wonder if someday, in his 370 00:26:44,599 --> 00:26:48,240 immortal life he would get to c the Galactic AC. 371 00:26:49,079 --> 00:26:51,519 It was on a little world of its own, a 372 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:55,720 spider webbing of force beams holding the matter, within which 373 00:26:55,839 --> 00:26:59,759 surges of submessons took the place of the old, clumsy 374 00:26:59,839 --> 00:27:06,039 molecular valves. Yet, despite its sub etheric workings, the galactic 375 00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:09,519 AC was known to be a full thousand feet across. 376 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:15,160 MQ seventeen J asked suddenly of his AC contact. Can 377 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:20,799 entropy ever be reversed? VJ twenty three X looked startled 378 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:24,559 and said at once, Oh, say, I didn't really mean 379 00:27:24,599 --> 00:27:28,559 to have you asked that? Why not? We both know 380 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:32,440 entropy can't be reversed. You can't turn smoke and ash 381 00:27:32,559 --> 00:27:36,799 back into a tree. Do you have trees on your world? 382 00:27:37,079 --> 00:27:41,160 Ask MQ seventeen J. The sound of the galactic AC 383 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:46,000 startled them into silence. Its voice came thin and beautiful 384 00:27:46,039 --> 00:27:49,720 out of the small AC contact on the desk. It said, 385 00:27:50,279 --> 00:27:57,480 there is insufficient data for a meaningful answer. VJ twenty 386 00:27:57,559 --> 00:28:02,279 six X said c. The two men thereupon returned to 387 00:28:02,319 --> 00:28:04,839 the question of the report they were able to make 388 00:28:05,039 --> 00:28:22,519 to the Galactic Council. Z Prime's mind spanned the new 389 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:26,279 galaxy with a feigned interest, and the countless twists of 390 00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:30,359 stars that powdered it he had never seen this one before. 391 00:28:30,559 --> 00:28:33,599 Would he ever see them all? So many of them, 392 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:37,319 each with its load of humanity, but a load that 393 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:40,880 was almost a dead weight. More and more, the real 394 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:45,319 escence of men was to be found out here in space, minds, 395 00:28:45,359 --> 00:28:50,200 not bodies. The immortal bodies remained back on planets in 396 00:28:50,359 --> 00:28:55,640 suspension over the cons Sometimes they roused for material activity, 397 00:28:55,880 --> 00:29:00,480 but that was growing rarer. Few new individuals were coming 398 00:29:00,519 --> 00:29:05,160 into existence to join the incredibly mighty throng, But what matter? 399 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:09,759 There was little room in the universe for new individuals. 400 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:14,079 Z Prime was rised out of his reverie upon coming 401 00:29:14,119 --> 00:29:19,440 across the wispy tendrils of another mind. I am, z Prime, 402 00:29:19,599 --> 00:29:24,039 said z Prime, and you, I am d sub wound. 403 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:29,359 Your galaxy we call it only the galaxy, and you 404 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:34,119 we call ours the same. All men call their galaxy 405 00:29:34,279 --> 00:29:39,839 their galaxy, and nothing more. Why not true, since all 406 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:45,599 galaxies are the same, not all galaxies on one particular galaxy. 407 00:29:45,839 --> 00:29:49,599 The race of man must have originated. That makes it different, 408 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:55,680 z Prime said, on which one I cannot say. The 409 00:29:55,920 --> 00:30:00,519 universal ac would know, Shall we ask him? I am 410 00:30:00,559 --> 00:30:06,680 suddenly curious. Z Prime's perceptions broadened until the galaxies themselves 411 00:30:06,759 --> 00:30:10,200 shrank and became a new, more diffuse powdering on a 412 00:30:10,279 --> 00:30:14,559 much larger background. So many hundreds of billions of them, 413 00:30:14,799 --> 00:30:19,640 all with their immortal beings, all carrying their load of intelligences, 414 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:23,720 with minds that drifted freely through space. And yet one 415 00:30:23,759 --> 00:30:27,000 of them was unique among them all in being the 416 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:30,960 original galaxy. One of them had in its vague and 417 00:30:31,039 --> 00:30:34,920 distant past, a period when it was the only galaxy 418 00:30:35,079 --> 00:30:41,039 populated by man. Z Prime was consumed with curiosity to 419 00:30:41,119 --> 00:30:45,480 see this galaxy, and he called out Universal AC. On 420 00:30:45,599 --> 00:30:51,839 which galaxy did mankind originate? The Universal AC heard for 421 00:30:52,119 --> 00:30:56,920 on every world and throughout space. It had its receptors ready, 422 00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:01,640 and each receptor led through hyperspace to some unknown points 423 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:07,079 where the Universal AC kept itself aloof z Prime knew 424 00:31:07,119 --> 00:31:10,680 of only one man whose thoughts had penetrated within sensing 425 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:15,480 distance of Universal AC, and he reported only a shining 426 00:31:15,599 --> 00:31:20,519 globe two feet across. Difficult to see, But how can 427 00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:24,559 that be all of Universal AC? Z Prime had ask, 428 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:29,240 most of it had been. The answer is in hyperspace. 429 00:31:29,599 --> 00:31:33,799 In what form it is there? I cannot imagine, nor 430 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:37,200 could anyone, for the day had long passed. Z Prime 431 00:31:37,279 --> 00:31:40,200 knew when any man had any part of the making 432 00:31:40,319 --> 00:31:45,720 of a universal AC. Each universal AC designed and constructed 433 00:31:45,799 --> 00:31:50,000 its successor. Each, during its existence of a million years 434 00:31:50,119 --> 00:31:53,799 or more, accumulated the necessary data to build a better 435 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:58,160 and more intricate, more capable successor, in which its own 436 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:02,119 store of data and in the visuality would be submerged. 437 00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:08,119 The universal AC interrupted z primes wandering thoughts, not with words, 438 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:13,119 but with guidance. Z Prime's mentality was guided into the 439 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:18,640 dim sea of galaxies, and one in particular enlarged into stars. 440 00:32:19,519 --> 00:32:25,160 A thought came infinitely distant, but infinitely clear. This is 441 00:32:25,279 --> 00:32:30,400 the original galaxy of man. But it was the same, 442 00:32:30,599 --> 00:32:34,559 after all, the same as any other, And z Prime 443 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:41,240 stifled his disappointment. D sub Wound, whose mind had accompanied 444 00:32:41,279 --> 00:32:45,079 the other, said, suddenly, and is one of these stars 445 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:51,079 the original star of man? The universal AC said, Man's 446 00:32:51,119 --> 00:32:55,599 original star has gone nova. It is a white dwarf. 447 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:01,079 Did the men upon it die? Asked z Prime. I'm startled, 448 00:33:01,079 --> 00:33:05,759 and without thinking, the universal AC said, a new world, 449 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:10,240 as in such cases, was constructed for their physical bodies 450 00:33:10,279 --> 00:33:15,000 in time. Yes, of course, said z Prime, but a 451 00:33:15,079 --> 00:33:19,519 sense of loss overwhelmed him. Even so, his mind released 452 00:33:19,559 --> 00:33:22,880 its hold on the original galaxy of Man. Let it 453 00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:26,920 spring back and lose itself among the blurred pinpoints. He 454 00:33:27,039 --> 00:33:31,160 never wanted to see it again. D sub Wound said, 455 00:33:31,839 --> 00:33:36,680 what is wrong? The stars are dying? The original star 456 00:33:36,799 --> 00:33:41,319 is dead. They must all die? Why not? But when 457 00:33:41,359 --> 00:33:45,200 all energy is gone, our bodies will finally die, and 458 00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:49,160 you and I with them. It will take billions of years. 459 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:52,880 I do not wish it to happen, even after billions 460 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:57,319 of years. Universal Ac how many stars may be kept 461 00:33:57,319 --> 00:34:01,880 from dying? D sub wound and said, in amusement, you're 462 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:06,920 asking how entropy might be reversed in direction? And the 463 00:34:07,039 --> 00:34:12,159 Universal Ace answered, there is as yet insufficient data for 464 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:17,360 a meaningful answer. Z Prime's thoughts fled back to his 465 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:21,679 own galaxy. He gave no further thought to d sub Wound, 466 00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:25,079 whose body might be waiting on a galaxy a trillion 467 00:34:25,199 --> 00:34:28,280 light years away, or on the star next to z 468 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:33,559 Prime's own. It didn't matter. Unhappily, z Prime began collecting 469 00:34:33,679 --> 00:34:37,159 interstellar hydrogen, out of which to build a small star 470 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:41,000 of his own. If the stars must someday die, at 471 00:34:41,079 --> 00:34:55,119 least some could yet be built. Man considered with himself 472 00:34:55,519 --> 00:35:00,440 or in a way Man mentally was one instead of 473 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:05,199 a trillion, trillion, trillion ageless bodies, each in its place, 474 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:11,000 each resting, quiet and incorruptible, each cared for by perfect automatons, 475 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:16,000 equally incorruptible, while the minds of all the bodies freely 476 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:23,480 melted into one another, indistinguishable. Man said, The universe is dying. 477 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:29,199 Man looked about at the dimming galaxies. The giant stars 478 00:35:29,599 --> 00:35:33,679 spend thrifts were gone long ago, back in the dimmest 479 00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:39,159 of the dim far past. Almost all stars were white dwarfs, 480 00:35:39,199 --> 00:35:42,719 fading to the end. New stars had been built of 481 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:46,679 the dust between the stars, some by natural processes, some 482 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:52,079 by man himself, and those were going too. White dwarfs 483 00:35:52,199 --> 00:35:55,559 might yet be crashed together, and of the mighty forces 484 00:35:55,599 --> 00:35:59,719 so released. New stars built, but only one star for 485 00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:05,000 every thousand white dwarfs destroyed, And those would come to 486 00:36:05,039 --> 00:36:11,199 an end too, Man said, carefully, husbanded, as directed by 487 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:15,320 the cosmic ac the energy that is even yet left 488 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:21,159 in all the universe will last four billions of years. 489 00:36:21,199 --> 00:36:24,960 But even so, said Man, eventually it will all come 490 00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:29,800 to an end, however it may be husbanded, however stretched out. 491 00:36:30,199 --> 00:36:34,679 The energy once expended is gone and cannot be restored. 492 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:41,679 Entropy must increase forever to the maximum. Man said, can 493 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:46,800 entropy not be reversed? Let us ask the cosmic ac. 494 00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:51,880 The cosmic ac surrounded them, but not in space. Not 495 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:56,239 a fragment of it was in space. It was in hyperspace, 496 00:36:56,840 --> 00:37:00,559 made of something that was neither matter nor energy. The 497 00:37:00,679 --> 00:37:04,000 question of its size and nature no longer had any 498 00:37:04,079 --> 00:37:09,199 meaning in terms that man could comprehend. Cosmic ac said, Man, 499 00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:15,840 how may entropy be reversed? The cosmic ac said, there 500 00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:21,800 is yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer. Man said, 501 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:27,280 collect additional data. The cosmic ac said, I will do so. 502 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:31,000 I have been doing so for one hundred billion years. 503 00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:35,440 My predecessors and I have been asked this question many times. 504 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:41,760 All the data I have remains insufficient. Will there come 505 00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:45,119 a time, said man, when data will be sufficient? Or 506 00:37:45,519 --> 00:37:52,199 is the problem insoluble in all conceivable circumstances? The cosmic 507 00:37:52,239 --> 00:37:58,199 ac said, no problem is insoluble in all conceivable circumstances. 508 00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:02,599 Man said, when will you have enough data to answer 509 00:38:02,599 --> 00:38:06,760 the question. The cosmic ac said, there is as yet 510 00:38:07,039 --> 00:38:12,440 insufficient data for a meaningful answer. Will you keep working 511 00:38:12,519 --> 00:38:17,000 on it? Said man the cosmic AC said, I will 512 00:38:18,239 --> 00:38:23,599 Man said, we shall wait. The stars and galaxies died 513 00:38:23,679 --> 00:38:28,440 and snuffed out, and space grew black. After ten trillion 514 00:38:28,559 --> 00:38:33,599 years of running down, one by one, Man fused with AC, 515 00:38:34,079 --> 00:38:38,159 each physical body losing its mental identity in a manner 516 00:38:38,159 --> 00:38:42,480 that was somehow not a loss. But again, Man's last 517 00:38:42,599 --> 00:38:47,519 mind paused before fusion, looking over a space that included 518 00:38:47,679 --> 00:38:51,320 nothing but the dregs of one last dark star, and 519 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:57,079 nothing besides incredibly thin matter agitated randomly by the tag 520 00:38:57,239 --> 00:39:02,559 ends of heat wearing out as symptoms to the absolute zero. 521 00:39:03,639 --> 00:39:08,280 Man said, AC, Is this the end? Can this chaos 522 00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:11,840 not be reversed into the universe once more? Can that 523 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:17,840 not be done? Ac said, there is as yet insufficient 524 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:24,440 data for a meaningful answer. Man's last mind fused, and 525 00:39:24,599 --> 00:39:32,519 only AC existed, and that in hyperspace, matter and energy 526 00:39:32,599 --> 00:39:36,639 had ended, and with its space and time, even AC 527 00:39:37,159 --> 00:39:40,599 existed only for the sake of the one last question 528 00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:43,960 that it had never answered. From the time a half 529 00:39:44,159 --> 00:39:49,519 drunken computer technician ten trillion years before had asked the 530 00:39:49,639 --> 00:39:53,400 question of a computer that was to AC far less 531 00:39:53,599 --> 00:39:57,360 than was a man to man. All other questions had 532 00:39:57,400 --> 00:40:01,320 been answered and until this last question was answered, also, 533 00:40:01,679 --> 00:40:07,920 AC might not release its consciousness. All collected data had 534 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:12,039 come to a final end. Nothing was left to be collected. 535 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:16,440 But all collected data had yet to be completely correlated 536 00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:21,599 and put together in all possible relationships. A timeless interval 537 00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:25,119 was spent in doing that, and it came to pass 538 00:40:25,159 --> 00:40:29,280 that AC learned how to reverse the direction of entropy. 539 00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:33,559 But now there was no man to whom AC might 540 00:40:33,719 --> 00:40:38,480 give the answer to the last question. The answer by 541 00:40:38,599 --> 00:40:44,960 demonstration would take care of that too. For another timeless interval, 542 00:40:45,159 --> 00:40:50,679 AC thought how best to do this? Carefully, AC organized 543 00:40:50,840 --> 00:40:55,760 the program. The consciousness of AC encompassed all of what 544 00:40:55,920 --> 00:40:59,639 had once been a universe and brooded over what was 545 00:40:59,719 --> 00:41:06,880 now chaos. Step by step, it must be done, and 546 00:41:07,039 --> 00:41:23,039 AC said, let there be light. And there was light. 547 00:42:13,159 --> 00:42:17,480 The last question by the late great Isaac Asimov, written 548 00:42:17,559 --> 00:42:22,039 so many decades ago, but certainly relevant in the era 549 00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:25,920 of AI, and just a fun journey to take something 550 00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:28,760 to think and talk about with each other. Okay, thank 551 00:42:28,840 --> 00:42:31,880 you so much for listening. The PDF link to the 552 00:42:31,920 --> 00:42:34,960 written version is in the description box of the broadcast 553 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:37,000 in case you would like to go browse and share 554 00:42:37,679 --> 00:42:40,360 and I appreciate you listening very much, and I'll see 555 00:42:40,360 --> 00:42:40,960 you next time. 556 00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:44,880 Speaker 1: Follow the Thinking Atheist on Facebook and Twitter for a 557 00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:48,559 complete archive of podcasts and videos, products like mugs and 558 00:42:48,559 --> 00:42:52,239 t shirts featuring the Thinking Atheist logo, links to atheist 559 00:42:52,280 --> 00:42:55,960 pages and resources, and details on upcoming free thought events 560 00:42:55,960 --> 00:43:03,159 and conventions. Log onto our website, The Thinking Atheist dot com.