互联网与文化multivax.com编辑精选
最后的问题——艾萨克·阿西莫夫
The Last Question - Isaac Asimov
2009 — 2019，它一次次回到首页
黑点是上首页（≥ 50 分）的那次投稿，空心点是没冲上去的投稿，点越大分数越高。
导读
这是阿西莫夫最著名的短篇科幻小说《最后的问题》的在线全文。故事围绕人类向超级计算机 Multivac 反复追问“熵增能否逆转”展开，跨越数十亿年，以一个震撼的结尾回答了这个问题。
为什么经久不衰：它把热力学第二定律、宇宙命运与人类对抗湮灭的执念浓缩在短短一篇小说里，结尾堪称科幻史上最有力的一笔，因此十年来反复登上 HN 首页。
HN 评论精选
小说的力量来自对人类对抗湮灭的刻画，而非科学预言；并指出熵增并非基本定律
很多人误以为热力学第二定律像广义相对论那样是基本定律，其实基础物理定律是时间对称的，目前没有根本性的原因解释熵为何如此表现。我读过这篇小说二十多遍，每次仍被打动——它的力量不在于科学预言，而在于对人类徒劳对抗湮灭的动人刻画，故事刻意少写技术细节反而增强了冲击力。
Jun8查看英文原文
Some comments: 1) I've heard many (non-physicist) people argue/think that the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics is a law in the sense that, say, General Relativity or Conservation of Energy is a law. That is not true. As explained here (http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/4201/why-does-the-low-entropy-at-the-big-bang-require-an-explanation-cosmological-a) the basic laws of physics are time-symmetric, i.e. there's no currently known fundamental reason that entropy behaves the way it does. 2) I've read this story 20+ times, yet each time it gets me. I think the force of the story comes not from the scientific predictions but from the poignant depiction of humanity's futile fight against oblivion. Aren't all monuments erected for this purpose? The fact that the story is very light on the tech details paradoxically increases its punch. 3) The described technology is a curious mix of far-sight and ridiculous backwardness: In describing harnessing the power of the Sun, Asimov may have had in mind something like a Dyson sphere, which Dyson described in 1960. However, the technicians still use a teletype to communicate with Multivac in 2061! 4) One thing that I think Asimov got wrong fundamentally is that researching the "final question" should have taken all of Multivac's CPU capacity. It's stupendous that Multivac just runs that question on a separate thread while doing everything else. The Hitchiker's Guide gets this right: when Arthur asks a very powerful AI (the Nutrimatic Drinks Dispenser) to make tea it totally paralyzes the machine. 5) I've never been able to find a good interpretation of Cosmic AC's response "NO PROBLEM IS INSOLUBLE IN ALL CONCEIVABLE CIRCUMSTANCES."
建议 HN 自动化重发经典帖子，为用户建立经典阅读清单
为什么这些经典要靠人反复提交？既然它们既经久不衰又广受欢迎，完全可以自动化：HN 可以建立一份经典阅读清单，根据用户是否看过，把这些帖子注入新用户或老用户的首页，在新闻淡季重播经典，就像影院在淡季重映《星球大战》一样。
iandanforth查看英文原文
Why do humans have to re-submit these? If a post is 1. Timeless and 2. Popular shouldn't this be automated? Surely this post adds to the experience of some as do many others like it. The first step in this trend would be a Hacker New reading list composed of posts that fit this profile. Secondarily you could have a way to inject each of the posts on that list into each users front page based on if they had seen it before (followed link checking or HN logs). If I'm new to HN perhaps my front page would have these scattered throughout. Next you could use them as content on slow news days in combination with the per user information above. I, for one, would love it if my local movie theatre re-ran Star Wars during slow months, and I wouldn't mind being (re)exposed to classic posts on Sunday afternoons :)
推荐阿西莫夫另一篇姊妹作《最后的答案》
阿西莫夫的《最后的答案》或许更深刻。
tjaerv查看英文原文
Asimov's "The Last Answer" is perhaps more profound: http://www.thrivenotes.com/the-last-answer/
推荐阿西莫夫另一名篇《日暮》及其对文奇的影响
《日暮》也非常好，短篇和长篇版本都是。它可能影响了弗诺·文奇《深渊上的天空》中蜘蛛文明的设定——它们在变星漫长的黑暗期中冬眠，文明随之崩溃。
fsiefken查看英文原文
'nightfall' is also very good, both the short and novel version. It may have influenced Vernor Vinge's Deepness in the Sky portrayel of the civilization of the intelligent spider creatures who hibernate through the "Deepest Darkness" of their variable sun's long "off" periods where their civilization falls apart.
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