This matter should get more attention 3, and Asimov made it very clear in this story.Ī feature of The Last Question that may not please all readers is the artificial intelligences’ behaviours.

Not only to live, but also to produce energy for them to have some comfort, and to produce food for surviving. Nowadays, there are many overpopulated places, and it is possible that Earth runs out of space forall of these people. In ten thousand years, the entire known Universe. In a hundred years, we’ll have filled a thousand Galaxies. Another ten years and we’ll have filled two more. Once this Galaxy is filled, we’ll have another filled in ten years. One character complains that the Universe cannot hold so much people: This is related to another issue Asimov refers to in the story: the excess of human beings. In real life, abuse of energy usage has been a problem for years all around the world, and this can bring awful consequences in the future.

In the story, after “a few thousand years”, “ mankind consumes two sunpower units a year” 1. It is even possible to consider the limited use of energy sources as the main antagonist, because it is the question without solving that not even a powerful mind like Multivac can deal with. One of the aspects that make The Last Question a great story is how the author uses in the plot some predictions of problems humanity may need to face in years to come. Still, the fear of the end haunts everybody Multivac evolves, and at some point becomes powerful enough to exist by itself, but the question about the solution for the survival of human life remains unsolved for many millennia. Time passes human life leaves Earth and expands its domain throughout the entire universe.

However, not even Multivac can answer such question, but it promises to reflect upon it. They ask about it to Multivac, the great computer mind that has grown so much it is more intelligent than any person. The story starts in 2061, when two computer programmers discuss about the future of human life after the edn of the sun, which is the main source of energy of the era. This paper will review the story and analyse Asimov’s ideas about what could be of the future of humanity. It belongs to the genre of science fiction, dealing with human’s desire of belonging to an everlasting universe. The Last Question is a short story by Isaac Asimov, written in 1956.

Asimov the question