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YMMV / The Last Question

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  • Memetic Mutation: "There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer" is a common joke answer in STEM circles, especially those focusing on Artificial Intelligence. It's also a relatively common Easter Egg for software developers to hard-code it as a response for "Can entropy be reversed?" if prompted.
  • Moment of Awesome: It takes the entire lifespan of the universe, but the Cosmic AC finally finds a meaningful answer: Yes, entropy can be reversed. Assuming it sticks around throughout the universe's rebirth, the humans of this next cycle will have a loyal, benevolent god-like being to guide them into a future of literally endless possibilities.
  • Values Resonance: To most people in 1956, when this story was first published, coal and oil seemed an endlessly abundant source of energy, and Uranium-powered nuclear fission even more endlessly abundant than them. So, in a strange way, the message in the story that no energy source (certainly not oil and uranium) is truly inexhaustible, precedes much of the environmental movements that will only start to gain widespread support in the 1970s.

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