DISTANT FUTURE MONTH #3: The Last Question, by Isaac Asimov

Type of Media: Short Story

Isaac Asimov is one of the sci-fi authors who popularized science fiction that had a level of introspection about humanity. His style, which he called social science fiction, used hypothetical technology to make social commentary. One of Asimov’s most well-known stories, as well as his personal favorite, is The Last Question. Combining transhumanism, philosophy, and theology, it’s a story that examines technological power and the collective anxiety of the human race.

The Last Question starts in the year 2061, when a massive computer called Multivac solves the world’s energy problems with a single solar power station. Two engineers get drunk and begin to discuss how this seemingly limitless source of energy is actually finite, gone once the sun collapses in billions of years, and how nothing can last forever due to the universe’s increasing entropy. They then ask Multivac if there is any way to decrease the amount of entropy in the universe, but Multivac replies it doesn’t have enough data to give an answer.

This beings a cycle that continues as both humankind and Multivac advance over the years. People colonize other planets, surmount death, and eventually free their consciousnesses from their physical bodies, but all the while they ask Multivac’s increasingly powerful descendents if they can reverse entropy as existence comes closer and closer to ending. It takes hundreds of billions of years, but eventually the computer produces an answer.

The Last Question doesn’t have a memorable cast of characters or great dialogue, but it does have a powerful concept. Multivac and its ilk get increasingly powerful, going from a large underground computer on Earth to an immaterial, god-like cosmic presence, but it still uses its power to help people and solve our problems. It becomes a being much more powerful than humanity while still serving us, implying it has some form of benevolence. Compared to a lot of sci-fi stories where machines go rogue and turn against humanity or just separate from us entirely due to cold logic, it’s nice to see The Last Question portray a much more positive view of technology.

Meanwhile, throughout the ages, the humans are afraid of the inevitable. The realization that all solutions are temporary in the face of total oblivion frightens us, and we desire permanence even though it doesn’t really exist. Multivac helps us solve the energy crisis, overpopulation, death, and even the confines of our physical bodies, but still through all of our progress we have that lingering fear of the end. Though, as it turns out, things don’t end. They just change.

At about a 15-minute read, this story packs more in 4,000 words than some sci-fi stories can put in 300 pages. It’s uplifting and strangely sweet without being at all sentimental. Read it if you need a little pick-me-up for your day, especially if you’ve never checked out any Asimov before.