ABANDONED. Science Fiction (?) Solves a Plot Problem by Using Chinese Soldiers as Computer Logic Gates

[scherzo♫]

In The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin, a plot problem is solved by using a multitude of Chinese soldiers as computer logic gates.

Another of the science fiction (?) books I've read in the last couple of years solved a plot problem using the same tactic. The book may be a different genre. I haven't found it in the books from the last 3 years on my science fiction shelf ('otherwhere').

I don't remember any characters or other plot details.*

*Edited 10/1 - in the book I read the soldiers used flags to indicate gate status

[Andy]

Sean McMullen's Souls in the Great Machine has someone who creates a computer out of people doing simple math and interacting with each other.

[Rosa]

Souls in the Great Machine for the link.

[scherzo♫]

Souls in the Great Machine is not the book I read.
Thanks for the suggestion though.

[Janet]

Maybe Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. No Chinese soldiers, but there's a great scene where mathematicians have family members distributed to form a program to decide who inherits what from grandma.

[scherzo♫]

Janet wrote: "Maybe Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. No Chinese soldiers, but there's a great scene where mathematicians have family members distributed to form a program to decide who inherits what ..."

There was a multitude of people /soldiers in the book I remember. People following orders. Definitely not family members. I read Crptonomicon in 2009 and the book I'm searching for more recently.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'd forgotten that plot element in Stephenson's book.

[Chris]

Another Neal Stephenson book possibility: The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer

I don't specifically remember the Chinese soldier bit but it could very possibly have been in there, there were a lot of interesting computation related things.

[scherzo♫]

Chris wrote: "Another Neal Stephenson book possibility: The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer

I don't specifically remember the Chinese soldier bit but it could very possibly have be..."

Chris, thanks for the suggestion, I haven't read The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer yet. I have read several Neal Stephenson books. I'll check those.

[Andy]

Chris wrote: "Another Neal Stephenson book possibility: The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer

I don't specifically remember the Chinese soldier bit but it could very possibly have be..."

Good thought - there was a lot of computer science worked through in metaphoric ways in that book, and there could easily have been computing with soldiers at one point or another.

[Andy]

I just checked. There are certainly clockwork soldiers doing computations in "Diamond Age" - see here https://books.google.com/books?id=aAV...

[scherzo♫]

Andy wrote: "I just checked. There are certainly clockwork soldiers doing computations in "Diamond Age" - see here https://books.google.com/books?id=aAV......"

Andy, thanks for the links.

I don't remember reading Diamond Age. (It was published in 1995 so I might have.) The excerpts don't ring any memory bells and differ from the book I'm looking for in having the soldiers signal gate status with helmets rather than flags.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

scherzo♫, are you still looking for this or did you find it?

[scherzo♫]

Lobstergirl wrote: "scherzo♫, are you still looking for this or did you find it?"

I'm not looking for this any longer. Thanks.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Ok.