Two Plus Two Makes Crazy by Walter J. Sheldon
"Two Plus Two Makes Crazy" by Walter J. Sheldon is a satirical short story written in the early 1950s. The book explores the consequences of an overreliance on technology, particularly through the character of a human liaison working with a vast, infallible computer system. The story critiques a future society that blindly trusts mathematical certainties, suggesting that this reliance can lead to absurd outcomes and a breakdown of rational thought. In thenarrative, Krayton, a public liaison officer in Computer City, explains the computerized system that governs various societal functions, addressing the fears posed by underground groups questioning the computer's control over their lives. Mr. Tanter, a seemingly unassuming man, challenges Krayton's assertions and injects doubt about the computer's infallibility. As he poses a thought-provoking question—whether "two plus two" is actually equal to "three plus one"—the computer becomes overloaded, illustrating that rigid adherence to numerical logic can lead to chaos. Ultimately, the story draws attention to the dangers of substituting human judgment with cold mechanistic calculations. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Sheldon, Walter J., 1917-1996 |
|---|---|
| Title | Two Plus Two Makes Crazy |
| Series Title | Produced from Fantastic Universe March 1954. |
| Note | Reading ease score: 65.9 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. |
| Credits | Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 28894 |
| Release Date | May 20, 2009 |
| Most Recently Updated | Jan 5, 2021 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 118 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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