My thoughts on Issac Asimov's The last Answer

I am avid fan of both fictional reading and science. My collection mostly contains the Sci-Fi work. Science especially Sci-Fi brings out best of imaginations. Things happen in the work makes you wonder and can even give sleepless night. Isaac Asimov is my favorite when it comes to Sci-Fi. He was visionary and predictor in some sense and that’s why he is called the father of science fiction. 

There are many great works of Asimov like Foundation Series, Galactic Empire series, Foundation Edge and Short Stories. Some of them even have Hollywood movies made on them. I Robot, is one of them.

Recently, I came across one of his great work which I have read some time back but this masterpiece deserved to be read again and again. I am talking about the story - "The Last Answer"

I want to make sure that I am not misunderstood. This is a review written by a fan, if you are not into Sci-Fi or Isaac Asimov, take it with a grain of salt. In this article, I am just expressing my views and in no way, want to interpret or hurt anyone sentiments (People these days are more sensitive than an anything). And of course, SPOILERS ahead.

If you haven't read the story, I would suggest reading the original unabridged version of the story Here (http://www.thrivenotes.com/the-last-answer/). But for fast runners, I have tried to summarize the story in paragraph

Plot Summary

The story is about protagonist Murray Templeton who dies from cardiac arrest and encounters consciousness after death, given by a celestial being who can only be heard from something like extra sensory perception. The story proceeds with the arguments, reasoning, logical deductions from Murray side to comprehend the situation, the being and the goal. The being referred is creator of the world, multidimensional in some sense, all knowing being. As Murray and being conversation progresses, according to being, Murray's goal is to find something that interest all-knowing being.  Murray do not find this motivating and found a goal for himself. The being was satisfied with Murray's goal and left Murray alone to ponder on his ultimate goal to destroy the being...

Little About Isaac Asimov

Born in January 2, 1920 Isaac Asimov was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He had written or edited more than 500 books and 90000 letters. He took last of his breath on April 6, 1992.

 "The Last Answer" is a science-fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the January 1980 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, and reprinted in the collections The Winds of Change and Other Stories (1983), The Best Science Fiction of Isaac Asimov (1986), and Robot Dreams (1986)." - Wikipedia

Thoughts

When I first read his work, I saw things happening in front of my eyes. Frankly speaking, there isn’t much to imagine as the setup is simple, 2 non-existential beings, communicating with each other, not in any traditional sense, about the topic, which we can’t comprehend. The way of storytelling is quite magnificent. There are some, of opinion that the story is predictable and bland.

But, in my opinion story is nothing short of masterpiece. The way I think of it is, not considering the being, as a God, we think God is, but as an extraordinary being, which has capabilities beyond our comprehension. If such being truly exist in real life, than it is very thought provoking. Or, it can be last minute hallucinations, of a dying man whose brain is on hyperdrive. There is also one interesting thought, that, no matter how you drive this story, the setup is such that, the story will reach to same conclusion, no matter which reasonable direction you follow, that in my opinion really justify the title of the story. It is like saying, the no matter how much time, Murray had taken in the conversation, it would have ended on one logical conclusion, and that is to find the destruction of the being, as that is only answer of which the being is not aware of, despite of being all knowing. The story feels quite a cross connection between religion and science.  One must tend to think the being as in the image of God. As most of the described properties of the being, is very much same, as we think in our simplistic mind of God.

It doesn’t matter, whether you like the story or not but I feel, it is a must read for everyone, to at least ignite some spark of thought…

FootNote

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Channel -

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChlqyi2M5ywy85FSHI0i-tg

Other Articles - 

https://azblogs4u.blogspot.in/p/blog-page_7.html

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Credits

Articles

http://www.thrivenotes.com/the-last-answer/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Answer

Images

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