
The Last Question by Isaac Asimov (1956) - deepakjc
http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html#
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tjaerv
Asimov's "The Last Answer" is perhaps more profound:

[http://www.thrivenotes.com/the-last-answer/](http://www.thrivenotes.com/the-
last-answer/)

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codingdave
Not really - it is written from quite the elitist perspective, with a
nihilistic goal at the end. It is pretty dark and depressing if you ask me.

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fsiefken
'nightfall' is also very good, both the short and novel version. It may have
influenced Vernor Vinge's Deepness in the Sky portrayel of the civilization of
the intelligent spider creatures who hibernate through the "Deepest Darkness"
of their variable sun's long "off" periods where their civilization falls
apart.

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lotsofmangos
I always thought that it influenced Pitch Black as well. Especially since it
includes the line _" So much for your nightfall."_ near the start.

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yoha
It _might_ have already been posted.

[https://hn.algolia.com/?q=the%20last%20question#!/story/fore...](https://hn.algolia.com/?q=the%20last%20question#!/story/forever/0/the%20last%20question)

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jlukanta
Not everyone knows it has been posted. I for one do not mind.

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dang
Please see the section on reposts in
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html).

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erikb
One of the comments in the older threads mentions how the Multivac represents
the opposite of what we got today, because we have so many computers running
at the same time (phone, laptop, tv, and tablet currently around me, for
instance).

I can't completely agree. Although all these devices might work by themselves.
But they are not complete. Each of these machines is currently running
software that actively connects one or the other cloud service. Isn't what we
have pretty much that Multivac thing? It's not a single big blob somewhere on
this planet, but this just makes it way bigger.

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mgolawala
Thank you for posting it. I first reading this story as a teenager. I remember
it having an impact on me in a way few stories do. I have re-read it many
times since then and it can still take my breath away every time.

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jeremysmyth
I came here to say precisely this. I didn't even know Asimov at the time; I
started with some of Arthur C. Clarke's stuff). Years later I had to hunt it
down to find it again, and that resumed my love affair with Asimov.

It's hard to believe he was 21 when he wrote Foundation. Easier to believe
when you see how profound he could be in such short bursts as with OP.

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Steven_Bukal
My favourite Asimov story :3. Also his favourite, IIRC.

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eudox
This is so old. Have a better story instead:
[http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/shanidar.htm](http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/shanidar.htm)

