"Asimov, Isaac - Feeling of Power" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asimov Isaac)

man mind can duplicate the process."
The president considered that. He said, "If Shuman says
this, I am inclined to believe himin theory. But, in prac-
tice, how can anyone know how a computer works?"
Brant laughed genially. "Well, Mr. President, I asked the
same question. It seems that at one time computers were de-
signed directly by human beings. Those were simple compu-
ters, of course, this being before the time of the rational use of
computers to design more advanced computers had been es-
tablished."
"Yes, yes. Go on."
"Technican Aub apparently had, as his hobby, the recon-
struction of some of these ancient devices and in so doing he
studied the details of their workings and found he could im-
itate them. The multiplication I just performed for you is
an imitation of the workings of a computer."
"Amazing!"
The Congressman coughed gently, "If I may make another
point, Mr. President The further we can develop this
thing, the more we can divert our Federal effort from com-
puter production and computer maintenance. As the human
brain takes over, more of our energy can be directed into
peacetime pursuits and the impingement of war on the ordi-
nary man will be less. This will be more advantageous for
the party in power, of course."
"Ah," said the president, "I see your point. Well, sit down,
Congressman, sit down. I want some time to think about
this. But meanwhile, show me that multiplication trick
again. Let's see if I can't catch the point of it."
Programmer Shuman did not try to hurry matters. Loesser
was conservative, very conservative and liked to deal with
computers as his father and grandfather had. Still, he con-
trolled the West European computer combine, and if he could
be persuaded to join Project Number in full enthusiasm, a
great deal would be accomplished.
But Loesser was holding back. He said, "I'm not sure I
like the idea of relaxing our hold on computers. The human
mind is a capricious thing. The computer will give the same
answer to the same problem each time. What guarantee
have we that the human mind will do the same?"
"The human mind, Computer Loesser, only manipulates
facts. It doesn't matter whether the human mind or a machine
does it. They are just tools."
"Yes, yes. I've gone over your ingenious demonstration
that the mind can duplicate the computer, but it seems to me
a little in the air. I'll grant the theory but what reason have
we for thinking that theory can be converted to practice?"
"I think we have reason, sir. After all, computers have
not always existed. The cave men with their triremes, stone
axes, and railroads had no computers."