isaac asimov the last question read online

The shortcoming of a technologically advanced humanity is that we grow increasingly reliant upon technology to the point where we don’t understand it. Women were needed occasionally as powerless children, wives, mothers and sexual interest. Because Asimov was not especially interested in individuals, he used the 20th century default to people his worlds - men. But even an ideas man needs the usual character web of opposition and allies. The ‘main character’ of this story is ‘humanity’. Once you’ve read this story, you won’t forget the main idea.

“The Last Question” proved to be the most resonant for his readers.

He wrote it in a ‘white heat’, and it required hardly any modification after the first draft.

Importantly, this was Isaac Asimov’s favourite of all the short stories he wrote. Already, back then, some people - especially Americans, perhaps - could see that all this increase in consumption could not go on forever. Interesting that even back in the 1950s, these ideas were considered. This makes “The Last Question” particularly relevant to today. In the case of this story, the ‘someone else’ is future generations.Īnother modern term related to the ideas in “The Last Question” is ‘Techno-Jesus’ - the idea that technology is going to save us all (from climate change etc.) We’ll get another Steve Jobs, so don’t worry. The ‘someone else’ might be a disadvantaged group in the present. By extension, if one group draws heavily from a particular resource, they are able to reason, happily for themselves, that they are not simultaneously taking away from someone else.

Based on the fairytale, this is the idea that there’s a never-ending supply of everything. “ The Last Question” concerns the fallacy of the magic porridge pot. However, this one is accessible to a wider audience. Asimov was able to visualise all sorts of futures, but not a future of gender equality. Asimov worked the other way around - he created characters to convey his ideas. I generally find his work hard to read because I read for character first. The ideas are even more relevant today than they were back in the 1950s. “The Last Question” by Isaac Asimov is a science fiction short story first published in 1956.

Isaac asimov the last question read online