The Feeling Of Power

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THE FEELING OF POWER

by Isaac Asimov

JEHAN SHUMAN was used to dealing with the men in authori-

ty on long-embattled Earth. He was only a civilian but he

originated 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 New

Pentagon. General Weider was space-burnt and had a small

mouth puckered almost into a cipher. Congressman Brant

was smooth-cheeked and clear-eyed. He smoked Denebian

tobacco 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 quite

by accident," said Congressman Brant placidly. "Ah." He

inspected the little man with the egg-bald head with amia-

ble curiosity.

The little man, in return, twisted the fingers of his hands

anxiously. He had never been near such great men before. He

was only an aging low-grade Technician who had long ago

failed all tests designed to smoke out the gifted ones among

mankind and had settled into the rut of unskilled labour.

There was just this hobby of his that the great Programmer

had found out about and was now making such a frightening

fuss over.

General Weider said, "I find this atmosphere of mystery

childish."

"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 that

one-syllable name, but then he was a great Programmer

speaking to a mere Technician. "Aub! How much is nine

times seven?"

Aub hesitated a moment. His pale eyes glimmered with a

feeble 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, nudged

the milled edges twice, looked at its face as it lay there in

the palm of his hand, and put it back. He said, "Is this the

gift 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 kind

as to suggest a number?"

"Seventeen," said the general.

"And you, Congressman?"

"Twenty-three."

"Good! Aub, multiply those numbers and please show the

gentlemen your manner of doing it."

"Yes, Programmer," said Aub, ducking his head. He fished

a small pad out of one shirt pocket and an artist's hairline

stylus out of the other. His forehead corrugated as he made

painstaking marks on the paper.

General Weider interrupted him sharply. "Let's see that."

Aub passed him the paper, and Weider said, "Well, it

looks like the figure seventeen."

Congressman Brant nodded and said, "So it does, but I

suppose anyone can copy figures off a computer. I think I

could make a passable seventeen myself, even without prac-

tice."

"If you will let Aub continue, gentlemen," said Shuman

without heat.

Aub continued, his hand trembling a little. Finally he said

in a low voice, "The answer is three hundred and ninety-

one."

Congressman Brant took out his computer a second time

and flicked it. "By Godfrey, so it is. How did he guess?"

"No guess, Congressman," said Shuman. "He computed

that result. He did it on this sheet of paper."

"Humbug," said the general impatiently. "A computer is

one 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 say

to myself: seven times three"

The Congressman interrupted smoothly, "Now, Aub, the

problem is seventeen times twenty-three."

"Yes, I know," said the little Technician earnestly, "but I

start by saying seven times three because that's the way it

works. 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 a

three under the two of twenty-one."

"Why under the two?" asked Congressman Brant at once.

"Because" Aub looked helplessly at his superior for

support. "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 the

twenty-one becomes a fifty-one. Now you let that go for a

while and start fresh. You multiply seven and two, that's

fourteen, and one and two, that's two. Put them down like

this and it adds up to thirty-four. Now if you put the

thirty-four under the fifty-one this way and add them, you

get three hundred and ninety-one and that's the answer."

There was an instant's silence and then General Weider

said, "I don't believe it. He goes through this rigmarole and

makes up numbers and multiplies and adds them this way and

that, but I don't believe it. It's too complicated to be anything

but 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 are

quite simple and will work for any numbers."

"Any numbers, eh?" said the general. "Come then." He

took out his own computer (a severely styled Gl model)

and struck it at random. Make a five seven three eight on

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摘要：

THEFEELINGOFPOWERbyIsaacAsimovJEHANSHUMANwasusedtodealingwiththemeninauthori-tyonlong-embattledEarth.Hewasonlyacivilianbutheoriginatedprogrammingpatternsthatresultedinself-direct-ingwarcomputersofthehighestsort.Generalsconsequent-lylistenedtohim.Headsofcongressionalcommittees,too.Therewasoneofeachin...

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