by Isaac Asimov
Online version: http://www.thelastquestion.net/
Touches on:
- entropy
- immortality
- matter is finite, all resources will eventually run out
- exponential/geometric growth
- parallel to modern issue with climate change, renewable resources not being renewable on cosmic scales and time frames
- also reminds me of another story I can’t recall where asking a computer a complex question to overwhelm it and shut it down (not war games). Perhaps Star Trek? It might be a common trope, but what was the origin?
- Also AI and similar to Ted Chiang’s story I think about often where the human’s don’t have to understand the AI’s decisions, but can still benefit from its advancements.
- Transferring consciousness outside of a physical body
- History repeating itself
- Skipping ahead in time, like Foundation (also Asimov)