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The Feeling of Power
"The Feeling of Power" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the February 1958 issue of If: Worlds of Science Fiction, and was reprinted in the 1959 collection Nine Tomorrows, the 1969 retrospective Opus 100, and the 1986 collection Robot Dreams. In the introduction to Robot Visions, Asimov lists this story as one of the notable robot stories.
In the distant future, humans live in a computer-aided society and have forgotten the fundamentals of mathematics, including even the rudimentary skill of counting.
The Terrestrial Federation is at war with Deneb, and the war is conducted by long-range weapons controlled by computers which are expensive and hard to replace.
In the distant future, humans live in a computer-aided society and have forgotten the fundamentals of mathematics, including even the rudimentary skill of counting.
The Terrestrial Federation is at war with Deneb, and the war is conducted by long-range weapons controlled by computers which are expensive and hard to replace.
10 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1958
5 people are currently reading
330 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,341 books27.9k followersWorks of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles,
The Foundation Trilogy
(1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
December 21, 2018
In a world where mathematics is a forgotten science and even the correct answer to 9 times 7 evokes suspicion of wizardry and trickery, Asimov created a lowly technician whose unusual hobby to multiply puts him in a very special position.
The human dependence and focus on computers turns the prospective of what is considered conservative and what is progressive.
Paper and grain have been traded for screens and hydroponics. Men are hard to sway back to the old ways. However, maybe, they never should have tried to...
The human dependence and focus on computers turns the prospective of what is considered conservative and what is progressive.
Paper and grain have been traded for screens and hydroponics. Men are hard to sway back to the old ways. However, maybe, they never should have tried to...
August 10, 2020
This story proves Asimov to be in the right. It was written before the invention of the calculator. His depiction of a future surrounded, ruled, overpowered, and to an alarming extent, screwed by technology and computers is so consistent with our world (ok, his is slightly worse but we are on the way walla) that reading the story in 2020 makes you feel like reading a recently written satire.
Sad 🥴
Sad 🥴
February 1, 2015
Isaac Asimov is a genius. This is a futuristic short story, satirical in nature about human dependence on machines to an extent that humans would even forget trivial basics like calculation. The discovery of the technique would lull humans into a false sense of power.
February 8, 2015
This short story is set in the future, and it is science-fictiony. Asimov uses a lot of satire, but for most of it, I didn't find it so funny.
Read
March 13, 2019Brilliant
August 5, 2019
A very short but powerful novel. Imagine the emergence of future generations who would forget the basis of many skills because of the high advancement in technology made by their ancestors!
December 7, 2020
Just a small 5 minute read, but created a huge impact on me!
July 31, 2022
It's a breeze to read but hits you like a storm.
July 13, 2016
The Feeling of Power is a very classic "what if" story, in this case, what if humans forgot how to do math. Of course when we figure out how to do it again, it's for the purposes of war... Go humanity! Not one of Asimov's most creative or thought provoking, but worth the five minutes it takes to read.
November 6, 2021
Collected in Nine Tomorrows, Opus 100 and Robot Dreams. In the future, the Terrestrial Federation is at war with Deneb, and war is waged using long range weapons controlled by really expensive ancient computers which are irreplaceable because over time humanity has forgotten the fundamentals of mathematics, including how to count or multiply. Enter Technician Aub, a lowly technician whose study of ancient computers enables him to re-discover the principles of pen and paper mathematics!
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His tells his supervisor, who brings it up to the powers that be, and before you know it, they've found a way better application for his knowledge, to be named "Graphitics".
"On the other hand, a missile with a man or two within, controlling flight by graphitics, would be lighter, more mobile, more intelligent. It would give us a lead that might well mean the margin of victory. Besides which, gentlemen, the exigencies of war compel us to remember one thing. A man is much more dispensable than a computer. Manned missiles could be launched in numbers and under circumstances that no good general would care to undertake as far as computer-directed missiles are concerned-"
Ancient technology and a military industrial complex that views the lives of its soldiers as expendable? Feels like the we're in the world of Warhammer 40K, which honestly did not exist at the time this story was written, still the themes do resonate.
The after impact ending of this was one of those wow moments. There are lessons to be learned. Even today, I notice kids using an app to calculate amount of a restaurant tip or the after discount price of an item on sale, simple calculations I can do in my head. And I understand why the ending of this story resonates with me.
[image error]
His tells his supervisor, who brings it up to the powers that be, and before you know it, they've found a way better application for his knowledge, to be named "Graphitics".
"On the other hand, a missile with a man or two within, controlling flight by graphitics, would be lighter, more mobile, more intelligent. It would give us a lead that might well mean the margin of victory. Besides which, gentlemen, the exigencies of war compel us to remember one thing. A man is much more dispensable than a computer. Manned missiles could be launched in numbers and under circumstances that no good general would care to undertake as far as computer-directed missiles are concerned-"
Ancient technology and a military industrial complex that views the lives of its soldiers as expendable? Feels like the we're in the world of Warhammer 40K, which honestly did not exist at the time this story was written, still the themes do resonate.
The after impact ending of this was one of those wow moments. There are lessons to be learned. Even today, I notice kids using an app to calculate amount of a restaurant tip or the after discount price of an item on sale, simple calculations I can do in my head. And I understand why the ending of this story resonates with me.
August 2, 2019
L'ho già detto che quest'uomo è un genio?
Sì, credo di averlo già detto in altre recensioni, ma non mi interessa, Asimov è un vero genio. In questo brevissimo racconto - vi giuro, si legge in cinque minuti - mette in scena un rovesciamento di prospettive da manuale, in cui viene ricavato dal funzionamento delle calcolatrici come si fanno le moltiplicazioni in colonna, e questa cosa, per ragioni assolutamente mindfuck da una parte e dannatamente credibili dall'altra, viene tratta alla stregua della bomba atomica, tanto che la persona che, in questo lontanissimo futuro, scopre questa tecnologia e che si rende conto delle potenzialità che ha addirittura si toglie la vita... Vi giuro, questa storia è completamente fuori di testa, ma è un capolavoro.
Tra l'altro, una piccola parentesi che non so quanto c'entri con la recensione ma che mi andava di scrivere. C'è qualcuno che nei racconti di Asimov vuole sempre vederci un insegnamento, che di solito è ridotto a 'che schifo le macchine, fate tutto con la vostra testa'; e in racconti come questo, in cui una cosa che per noi è banale (come fare le moltiplicazioni in colonna) viene trattata come una innovazione tecnologica, commenti simili spopolano ovunque. Io personalmente non concordo con questa visione, a mio parere troppo assolutistica; ma è comunque vero che io continuerò sempre a pensare che non insegnare la matematica ai ragazzini 'perché ci sono le calcolatrici' è assolutamente ridicolo, visto che si ha potere sulle macchine finché le si può spegnere... pensateci, se si rompe la lavatrice cosa fate? Siete fregati, vero? Eh, pure io. E in questo racconto, intitolato appunto 'the feeling of power' (in italiano era 'Nove volte sette', non proprio la stessa cosa), si riscopre la forza di sapere fare i conti a mente senza dover dipendere da una macchina.
Sì, credo di averlo già detto in altre recensioni, ma non mi interessa, Asimov è un vero genio. In questo brevissimo racconto - vi giuro, si legge in cinque minuti - mette in scena un rovesciamento di prospettive da manuale, in cui viene ricavato dal funzionamento delle calcolatrici come si fanno le moltiplicazioni in colonna, e questa cosa, per ragioni assolutamente mindfuck da una parte e dannatamente credibili dall'altra, viene tratta alla stregua della bomba atomica, tanto che la persona che, in questo lontanissimo futuro, scopre questa tecnologia e che si rende conto delle potenzialità che ha addirittura si toglie la vita... Vi giuro, questa storia è completamente fuori di testa, ma è un capolavoro.
Tra l'altro, una piccola parentesi che non so quanto c'entri con la recensione ma che mi andava di scrivere. C'è qualcuno che nei racconti di Asimov vuole sempre vederci un insegnamento, che di solito è ridotto a 'che schifo le macchine, fate tutto con la vostra testa'; e in racconti come questo, in cui una cosa che per noi è banale (come fare le moltiplicazioni in colonna) viene trattata come una innovazione tecnologica, commenti simili spopolano ovunque. Io personalmente non concordo con questa visione, a mio parere troppo assolutistica; ma è comunque vero che io continuerò sempre a pensare che non insegnare la matematica ai ragazzini 'perché ci sono le calcolatrici' è assolutamente ridicolo, visto che si ha potere sulle macchine finché le si può spegnere... pensateci, se si rompe la lavatrice cosa fate? Siete fregati, vero? Eh, pure io. E in questo racconto, intitolato appunto 'the feeling of power' (in italiano era 'Nove volte sette', non proprio la stessa cosa), si riscopre la forza di sapere fare i conti a mente senza dover dipendere da una macchina.
Nove volte sette, pensò Shuman con profonda contentezza, fa sessantatré, e non ho bisogno che me lo venga a dire una calcolatrice. La calcolatrice ce l'ho nella testa.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 8, 2021
I have always been confused as to what should I write for the review of a book. I've never been much good at it, so I've avoided writing one most of the time. However, after reading this short story, I just couldn't resist myself writing one. It is sort of my feeling after reading this book rather than the summary (that you can find in the book cover).
Sir Isaac Asimov was one of the best sci-fi author of all time. His writings were far ahead of his time (still are to my sense). Well this one is just a simple concept turned into a masterpiece by a mastermind. He just pointed out how the basic theories of mathemetics can be tricky for a civilization with highly efficient computers. Come to think of it, I myself have forgotten some of them. I'll go rediscover myself in some basic theories right now.
Sir Isaac Asimov was one of the best sci-fi author of all time. His writings were far ahead of his time (still are to my sense). Well this one is just a simple concept turned into a masterpiece by a mastermind. He just pointed out how the basic theories of mathemetics can be tricky for a civilization with highly efficient computers. Come to think of it, I myself have forgotten some of them. I'll go rediscover myself in some basic theories right now.
July 15, 2018
[The Feeling of Power](https://urbigenous.net/library/power....) by *Isaac Asimov* explores a world in which computers are everywhere, and humans have forgotten how to do anything by themselves, especially calculations. Not a novel concept, you may say, but the publication date is 1958. I'm completely undecided on if this has aged astonishingly well or has been made unreadable, but I'd say take the five minutes and read it regardless.
May 9, 2018
From the discussions between artificial intelligence and the human brain on mathematical and linear questions. Asimov wrote many tales about robots and artificial intelligence. Although I do not like the style of his works, I recognize that he is one of the great authors of all time to reflect on this theme in novels.
On these subjects, I prefer Ted Chiang's tales.
On these subjects, I prefer Ted Chiang's tales.
January 17, 2022
Classic Asimov. Very much in the style of Mark Twain. A modern folktale-style story. An alternative future with a lesson for us today. If only we can learn. Asimov does not spoon-feed the ideas to you. You will find yourself uncomfortable by the future he describes. You will have to work out why.
Here's a link to read it online: https://urbigenous.net/library/power....
Here's a link to read it online: https://urbigenous.net/library/power....
July 31, 2022
Mi frase : Nueve por siete son sesenta y tres —se dijo Shuman, con honda satisfacción—, y maldita la falta que me hace una computadora para saberlo. ¡Tengo una computadora en la cabeza!
Y era sorprendente la sensación de poder que eso le producía.
Y era sorprendente la sensación de poder que eso le producía.
November 11, 2023
This feels very prescient.it is a future time when mankind is so dependent on computers that they have lost the ability to do even basic math. Written in the 1950's it certainly mirrors the dependence some have on technology now. Narrated by George Guidell, and available in 'Robot Dreams'.
February 16, 2018
Do our skills and technology help us to be better?
July 12, 2021
Strange little story. I find it hard to believe we would forget so much, on the other hand, I have no experience in making fire without tools.... Very impressive that Asimov wrote it in 1958 already.
October 25, 2021
Uno dei piu' bei racconti brevi di Asimov.
May 30, 2022
A satirical story about scientific progress. It's very interesting and Asimov uses exaggeration very well: society is so technological ahead that to progress it has to "go backwards".
January 25, 2023
Very interesting concept. "It might be the job of scientists, someday, not to discover, but to re-discover".
June 9, 2024
Reinventing the wheel, applied for selfishness
September 26, 2024
Es espectacular leer este cuento en 2024 y darte cuenta que Asimov esta, de alguna manera, prediciendo el futuro.
Brillante.
Brillante.
December 15, 2024
A fascinating story, but it is as unprophetic as story about computers in 1957 could ever be
January 12, 2026
Humans have mastered mathematics, programmed machines and forgotten the skills required. Interesting take on outsourcing to computers to our detriment. A full circle kind of story.
November 8, 2025
Fairly timely read and Asimov was a visionary for asking about the relevance of "archaic methods" in a sufficiently advanced,high-tech society.
The answer one comes away with though, is probably narcissism...
The answer one comes away with though, is probably narcissism...
December 23, 2019
I'm actually cheating a little bit on this review since this is not a book but a short story.
I started my love of books in middle school due to feelings of not fitting in and loneliness.
One author stands out in my mind and that is Isaac Asimov. The school library had several of his books containing short stories, and I fell in love with science fiction and reading for the rest of my life.
Though Asimov and I would never agree on views of Christianity or politics--I believe we could agree to disagree.
The Feeling Of Power is a story I read when I was young, and I've always wanted to read it again. The way computers are doing everything for us--this book has become even more believable, and very insightful of Asimov since he wrote it in 1951.
The story is set in the future, and Myron Aub (I love that name) has learned basic math--no one knows how to do this since computers do this for everyone. Before long the military get their hands on it and of course nothing good will come of that.
Poor Aub, he just wanted to help mankind, but instead the military is going to use the formulas in a war to kill more beings.
The story ends on a sad note, but you should read it to find out.
This review is from my blog: http://somanybooksssolittletime.blogs...
I started my love of books in middle school due to feelings of not fitting in and loneliness.
One author stands out in my mind and that is Isaac Asimov. The school library had several of his books containing short stories, and I fell in love with science fiction and reading for the rest of my life.
Though Asimov and I would never agree on views of Christianity or politics--I believe we could agree to disagree.
The Feeling Of Power is a story I read when I was young, and I've always wanted to read it again. The way computers are doing everything for us--this book has become even more believable, and very insightful of Asimov since he wrote it in 1951.
The story is set in the future, and Myron Aub (I love that name) has learned basic math--no one knows how to do this since computers do this for everyone. Before long the military get their hands on it and of course nothing good will come of that.
Poor Aub, he just wanted to help mankind, but instead the military is going to use the formulas in a war to kill more beings.
The story ends on a sad note, but you should read it to find out.
This review is from my blog: http://somanybooksssolittletime.blogs...
September 5, 2016
This story actually scared me by the future that it proposed. Where the world believes that computers are better than people. Where people are more disposable than computers. Granted it was extremely well written.
March 6, 2014
An interesting short story set in a future when all math (and apparently most other thinking) is done by computers. A technician discovers math and teaches the scientists who decide this is a great invention. Somewhat dated, but still an interesting concept.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews