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Project Gutenberg
2009-05-20
Public domain in the USA.
205
Sheldon, Walter J.
1917
1996
Sheldon, Walt
Sheldon, Walter James
Two Plus Two Makes Crazy
Produced from Fantastic Universe March 1954.
Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
"Two Plus Two Makes Crazy" by Walter J. Sheldon is a satirical short story written in the early 1950s. The book explores the consequences of an overreliance on technology, particularly through the character of a human liaison working with a vast, infallible computer system. The story critiques a future society that blindly trusts mathematical certainties, suggesting that this reliance can lead to absurd outcomes and a breakdown of rational thought. In the narrative, Krayton, a public liaison officer in Computer City, explains the computerized system that governs various societal functions, addressing the fears posed by underground groups questioning the computer's control over their lives. Mr. Tanter, a seemingly unassuming man, challenges Krayton's assertions and injects doubt about the computer's infallibility. As he poses a thought-provoking question—whether "two plus two" is actually equal to "three plus one"—the computer becomes overloaded, illustrating that rigid adherence to numerical logic can lead to chaos. Ultimately, the story draws attention to the dangers of substituting human judgment with cold mechanistic calculations. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Reading ease score: 65.9 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read.
en
Science fiction
Short stories
PS
Text
Science Fiction
Browsing: Literature
Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy
Browsing: Fiction
Category: Short Stories
Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy
Category: Humour
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