It's well established now that the way you put a question often determines not only the answer you'll get, but the type of answer possible. So ... a mechanical answerer, geared to produce the ultimate revelations in reference to anything you want to know, might have unsuspected limitations.
n, eyes closed, didn't answer.
"We're bushmen. But the gap is much greater here. Worm and super-man, perhaps. The worm desires to know the nature of dirt, and why there's so much of it. Oh, well."
"Shall we go, sir?" Morran asked. Lingman's eyes remained closed. His taloned fingers were clenched, his cheeks sunk further in. The skull was emerging.
"Sir! Sir!"
And Answerer knew that that was not the answer.
* * * * *
Alone on his planet, which is neither large nor small, but exactly the right size, Answerer waits. He cannot help the people who come to him, for even Answerer has restrictions.
He can answer only valid questions.
Universe? Life? Death? Purple? Eighteen?
Partial truths, half-truths, little bits of the great question.
But Answerer, alone, mumbles the questions to himself, the true questions, which no one can understand.
How could they understand the true answers?
The questions will never be asked, and Answerer remem
Quite a clever sci-fi story, but not one I enjoyed much as it was rather too crazy for my liking.
Consider the premise that you could ask a super-being any question and get an answer. Wouldn't the answer depend on your understanding? If you ask, "What is the meaning of life?" how would you come to understand the answer?
Remember that, "Learning occurs at the edge of knowledge." The Answerer can not "leap" you forward over what you don't know. And it can't help you "unlearn" incorrect assumptions. The Answerer even appears differently to each species that approaches it.
Very entertaining and thought-provoking. I recommend it.
Many different types of aliens travel to the Answerer, a machine which can answer any question. A good short story.
