Perfect Answer by Jr. L. J. Stecher
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"Perfect Answer" by L. J. Stecher, Jr. is a science fiction novella that was published in the late 1950s. This story explores the intersections of humanity and technology through the encounter of two space explorers, Jack Bates and Bill Farnum, with an advanced artificial intelligence known as the Oracle. The narrative focuses on the implications of having access to absolute knowledge and the potential consequences for civilization. In the story, Bates and
Farnum land on a seemingly civilized planet where they encounter the Oracle, a machine designed to provide accurate answers to any questions posed to it. The Oracle reveals that it was created to serve as a weapon against humanity's tendency toward depravity and self-destruction, with the aim of keeping human progress in check. As Farnum perceives the danger of the Oracle's influence, he becomes increasingly desperate to warn Earth of the threat it poses. Meanwhile, Bates, driven by greed and ambition, wishes to control the Oracle’s knowledge for personal gain. This clash of motivations leads to tragic consequences, culminating in a moral dilemma that questions the nature of power, dependence, and the very fabric of civilization itself. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Stecher, L. J., Jr., 1918-1988 |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Francis, Dick |
| Title | Perfect Answer |
| Series Title | Produced from Galaxy Science Fiction June 1958 |
| Credits |
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 76.5 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | Human-alien encounters -- Fiction |
| Subject | Explorers -- Fiction |
| Subject | Artificial intelligence -- Fiction |
| Subject | Interstellar travel -- Fiction |
| Subject | Computers -- Fiction |
| Subject | Questions and answers -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 51482 |
| ISBN (HTML) | 979-8-238-51482-6 |
| Release Date | Mar 17, 2016 |
| Last Update | Oct 23, 2024 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 472 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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