4 ms·
> And after all, if I get fed up with bein' old ... I could > hook Joe in long enough to ask: "How can a old guy not > stay old?" Joe'll be able to find out. A
by jpt4 11y ago
> And after all, if I get fed up with bein' old ... I could > hook Joe in long enough to ask: "How can a old guy not
> stay old?" Joe'll be able to find out. An' he'll tell me.
Should anyone reading this have such an opportunity, for the sake of my curiosity do not wait for senescence to ask this question.
> That couldn't be allowed out general, of course. You
> gotta make room for kids to grow up. But it's a pretty
> good world, now Joe's turned off. Maybe I'll turn him on
> long enough to learn how to stay in it. But on the other hand, maybe—
How unfortunate for this story's universe that our salt of the Earth narrator is so limited in his view of the potential scope of human flourishing. How useful as a negative example for our universe.
- stan_rogers 11y agoJoe isn't about computers or networks; it's about everybody owning a monkey's paw[1]. The setting is a vaguely scifi, but the story would work as well with garden-variety genies or some such - wish-granting entities that aren't too concerned with the consequences of granting the wish, and wish-makers who can't think through the easiest and most effective way of granting a wish. (Try thinking about the usual three wishes, and try making them bullet-proof/idiot-proof/watertight and only beneficial.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkey's_Paw https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkey's_Paw