Module 10

 The prophecies in “A Logic Named Joe, “ are uncannily incredible! So incredible in fact that I had to reassure myself that this story was actually written in 1946. Admittedly, there are many phenomenons that I can not explain, but I will not give any credence to Murray Leinster as being a profit or having any psychic abilities; and since I do not believe in time travel, I have to conclude that the story to be the direct result of thorough contemplation, pure imagination, and many strange coincidences. Yet, despite my personal explanations or justifications to these prophecies, I find the coincidences so uncanny that they can not be ignored. I have taken them all and broke them down into three categories; the things that have already happened, the style of writing itself, and the suggestions of things to come.

First we have to remember the time frame that the story takes place, 1946. There were no commercial or home PC's then. According to the History of Technology Time-line (http://www.web-friend.com/help/general/tech_history.html ) the machine that most consider the first electrical computer, ENIAC, did not come out until February of '47, after the story was written.

First off, Leinster's notion about society's dependency on these computers or logics as he calls them was right on! How could someone in 1946 possibly know how important these technologies are today when they were non-existent back then. Then consider the size of the logics. The computers of the 40's were huge, the size of a room. The actual size of a logic is never mentioned in the story, however it's quit clear that they were small and portable. That in itself is a thought that is 30-40 years premature.

Then I have to account for his Carson Circuits in which we would call the internet and all the services that it provides. His idea that the logics could connect to tanks, and find the answers to practically everything from weather forecasts to how to kill your wife were incredibly accurate. The tanks represent a word search engine that would link you to data plates or web servers with the information that you are seeking. Also he mentions vision-phones and the ability to watch anything you want. That sounds very much like Skype and Netflix to me. For my last example of things that have already happened I reflect upon the pay logic he uses. Wow really? There aren't as many of these as there used to be due to the fact more people then ever have their own computers/smart-phones and internet connections can be acquired through 3G or 4G cell technologies. But still you can go into any truck stop and find a pay computer that allows you access to the net. Its very perplexing how someone in the 40's could even conceive this idea.

Another observation I had about the story was the style of writing that Leinster uses. Is it just me, or did he write this whole story using text lingo of today? Granted he doesn't uses acronyms like LOL or IDK, but I can not recall any novel or short story that uses words like kinda, coulda, or sorta. Not to mention Leinster abbreviates just about every word that ends in “ing” with “in'” These are not English words. Most writers would not write like this unless it was in parenthesis to give context to the dialect of the person speaking. So I wonder if he knew about that as well. One thing I am convinced of through the reading of this story is that the English language should stay intact. I found that Leinster style of writing made reading more difficult then it had to be.

Finally, its apparent that the lead character of the story is quit convinced that he saved the world! I take this as a reflection of Leinster's actual thoughts. Is he right? What happens when the wrong people obtain the wrong information. Friedman talks about this in his book as well. What happens when nuclear technology isn't so high-tech and top-secret?. What happens when anybody can read how to make an atom bomb? Does this sound like sci-fi to you? Maybe for now, but remember there was also a time when the internet and computers themselves were sci-fi. So is it only a matter of time until we have a bunch of terrorists with nuclear capabilities? Honestly its something I don't like to think about, but in all actuality it does need to be addressed.

Another important observation I noted is the Artificial Intelligence that Joe displayed. I believe that this is another great prophecy that has yet to happen, however I will have to leave you hanging on this as it is a major topic of my next module.....