The Feeling of Power - Isaac Asimov, ebook, Temp
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THE FEELING OF POWERby Isaac AsimovJEHAN SHUMAN was used to dealing with the men in authori-ty on long-embattled Earth. He was only a civilian but heoriginated programming patterns that resulted in self-direct-ing war computers of the highest sort. Generals consequent-ly listened to him. Heads of congressional committees, too.There was one of each in the special lounge of NewPentagon. General Weider was space-burnt and had a smallmouth puckered almost into a cipher. Congressman Brantwas smooth-cheeked and clear-eyed. He smoked Denebiantobacco with the air of one whose patriotism was so no-torious, he could be allowed such liberties.Shuman, tall, distinguished, and Programmer-first-class,faced them fearlessly.He said, "This, gentlemen, is Myron Aub.""The one with the unusual gift that you discovered quiteby accident," said Congressman Brant placidly. "Ah." Heinspected the little man with the egg-bald head with amia-ble curiosity.The little man, in return, twisted the fingers of his handsanxiously. He had never been near such great men before. Hewas only an aging low-grade Technician who had long agofailed all tests designed to smoke out the gifted ones amongmankind and had settled into the rut of unskilled labour.There was just this hobby of his that the great Programmerhad found out about and was now making such a frighteningfuss over.General Weider said, "I find this atmosphere of mysterychildish.""You won't in a moment," said Shuman. "This is not some-thing we can leak to the firstcomer.Aub!" There was some-thing imperative about his manner of biting off thatone-syllable name, but then he was a great Programmerspeaking to a mere Technician. "Aub! How much is ninetimes seven?"Aub hesitated a moment. His pale eyes glimmered with afeeble anxiety. "Sixty-three," he said.Congressman Brant lifted his eyebrows. "Is that right?""Check it for yourself, Congressman."The Congressman took out his pocket computer, nudgedthe milled edges twice, looked at its face as it lay there inthe palm of his hand, and put it back. He said, "Is this thegift you brought us here to demonstrate? An illusionist?""More than that, sir. Aub has memorized a few opera-tions and with them he computes on paper.""A paper computer?" said the general. He looked pained."No, sir," said Shuman patiently. "Not a paper comput-er. Simply a sheet of paper. General, would you be so kindas to suggest a number?""Seventeen," said the general."And you, Congressman?""Twenty-three.""Good! Aub, multiply those numbers and please show thegentlemen your manner of doing it.""Yes, Programmer," said Aub, ducking his head. He fisheda small pad out of one shirt pocket and an artist's hairlinestylus out of the other. His forehead corrugated as he madepainstaking marks on the paper.General Weider interrupted him sharply. "Let's see that."Aub passed him the paper, and Weider said, "Well, itlooks like the figure seventeen."Congressman Brant nodded and said, "So it does, but Isuppose anyone can copy figures off a computer. I think Icould make a passable seventeen myself, even without prac-tice.""If you will let Aub continue, gentlemen," said Shumanwithout heat.Aub continued, his hand trembling a little. Finally he saidin a low voice, "The answer is three hundred and ninety-one."Congressman Brant took out his computer a second timeand flicked it. "By Godfrey, so it is. How did he guess?""No guess, Congressman," said Shuman. "He computedthat result. He did it on this sheet of paper.""Humbug," said the general impatiently. "A computer isone thing and marks on paper are another.""Explain, Aub," said Shuman."Yes, Programmer.Well, gentlemen, I write down seven-teen and just underneath it, I write twenty-three. Next I sayto myself: seven times three"The Congressman interrupted smoothly, "Now, Aub, theproblem is seventeen times twenty-three.""Yes, I know," said the little Technician earnestly, "but Istart by saying seven times three because that's the way itworks. Now seven times three is twenty-one.""And how do you know that?" asked the Congressman."I just remember it. It's always fwenty-one on the computer.I've checked it any number of times.""That doesn't mean it always will be though, does it?"said the Congressman."Maybe not," stammered Aub. "I'm not a mathematician.But I always get the right answers, you see.""Go on.""Seven times three is twenty-one, so I write down twenty-one. Then one times three is three, so I write down athree under the two of twenty-one.""Why under the two?" asked Congressman Brant at once."Because" Aub looked helplessly at his superior forsupport. "It's difficult to explain."Shuman said, "If you will accept his work for the moment,we can leave the details for the mathematicians."Brant subsided.Aub said, "Three plus two makes five, you see, so thetwenty-one becomes a fifty-one. Now you let that go for awhile and start fresh. You multiply seven and two, that'sfourteen, and one and two, that's two. Put them down likethis and it adds up to thirty-four. Now if you put thethirty-four under the fifty-one this way and add them, youget three hundred and ninety-one and that's the answer."There was an instant's silence and then General Weidersaid, "I don't believe it. He goes through this rigmarole andmakes up numbers and multiplies and adds them this way andthat, but I don't believe it. It's too complicated to be anythingbut horn-swoggling.""Oh no, sir," said Aub in a sweat. "It only seems compli-cated because you're not used to it. Actually, the rules arequite simple and will work for any numbers.""Any numbers, eh?" said the general. "Come then." Hetook out his own computer (a severely styled Gl model)and struck it at random. Make a five seven three eight onthe paper. That's five thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight.""Yes, sir," said Aub, taking a new sheet of paper."Now," (more punching of his computer), "seven two threenine. Seven thousand two hundred and thirty-nine.""Yes, sir.""And now multiply those two.""It will take some time," quavered Aub."Take the time," said the general."Go ahead, Aub," said Shuman crisply.Aub set to work, bending low. He took another sheetof paper and another. The general took out his watch finallyand stared at it. "Are you through with your magic-making,Technician?""I'm almost done, sir.Here it is, sir. Forty-one million,five hundred and thirty-seven thousand, three hundred andeighty-two." He showed the scrawled figures of the result.General Weider smiled bitterly. He pushed the multiplica-tion contact on his computer and let the numbers whirl toa halt. And then he stared and said in a surprised squeak,"Great Galaxy, the fella's right."The President of the Terrestrial Federation had grownhaggard in office and, in private, he allowed a look ofsettled melancholy to appear on his sensitive features. TheDenebian war, after its early start of vast movement andgreat popularity, had trickled down into a sordid matter ofmanoeuvre and countermanceuvre, with discontent rising stead-ily on Earth. Possibly it was rising on Deneb, too.And now Congressman Brant, head of the important Com-mittee on Military Appropriations, was cheerfully and smooth-ly spending his half-hour appointment spouting nonsense."Computing without a computer," said the president im-patiently, "is a contradiction in terms.""Computing," said the Congressman, "is only a system forhandling data. A machine might do it, or the human brainmight. Let me give you an example." And, using the newskills he had learned, he worked out sums and productsuntil the president, despite himself, grew interested."Does this always work?""Every time, Mr. President. It is foolproof.""Is it hard to learn?""It took me a week to get the real hang of it. I think youwould do better.""Well," said the president, considering, "it's an interestingparlour game, but what is the use of it?""What is the use of a newborn baby, Mr. President? Atthe moment there is no use, but don't you see that thispoints the way towards liberation from the machine. Consider,Mr. President," the Congressman rose and his deep voiceautomatically took on some of the cadences he used in publicdebate, "that the Denebian war is a war of computer againstcomputer. Their computers forge an impenetrable field ofcounter-missiles against our missiles, and ours forge oneagainst theirs. If we advance the efficiency of our comput-ers, so do they theirs, and for five years a precarious andprofitless balance has existed."Now we have in our hands a method for going beyondthe computer, leapt rogging it, passing through it. We willcombine the mechanics of computation with human thought;we will have the equivalent of intelligent computers; billionsof them. I can't prediet what the consequences will be indetail but they will be incalculable. And if Deneb beats us tothe punch, they may be unimaginably catastrophic."The president said, troubled, "What would you have medo?""Put the power of the administration behind the establish-ment of a secret project on human computation. Call itProject Number, if you like. I can vouch for my committee,but I will need the administration behind me.""But how far can human computation go?""There is no limit. According to Programmer Shuman, whofirst introduced me to this discovery""I've heard of Shuman, of course.""Yes. Well, Dr. Shuman tells me that in theory there isnothing the computer can do that the human mind cannotdo. The computer merely takes a finite amount of data andperforms a finite number of operations upon them. The hu-man mind can duplicate the process."The president co...
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