Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 244 The Professor is a Superman

The applause was thunderous and lasted until the chess players left the stage and IBM CEO Thomas Watson took the stage.

Fisher lingered on stage, seemingly lost in thought, until IBM staff had to come up and escort him off.

Thomas wore a smug smile. The more impressive Lin Ran's performance, the better the marketing effect.

America's tech companies understood the importance of marketing as early as Edison's time.

Edison's public demonstration of the incandescent light bulb, the comparison of tungsten filament and bamboo filament, and the experiments with thousands of materials were not only scientific anecdotes but also a great marketing tactic of that era.

The same was true for America's tech companies in the 60s.

Even before the light-emitting diode was manufactured, Texas Instruments was already inviting various technology media outlets to visit and promote it, touting its enormous potential.

After General Electric "created" it for widespread use in portable calculators, Texas Instruments accused GE of copying and infringing on its patents, and then touted the light-emitting diode as a great discovery by GE.

IBM, known as the "Big Blue," is undoubtedly one of the tech companies that most needs marketing to maintain its position in the public eye.

"We witnessed an unprecedented and spectacular chess performance."

The professor once again demonstrated his myth of omnipotence with a spectacular miracle.

Professors are always like that, able to bring surprises to everyone.

I want to respond to the media's accusations that IBM bribed the chess players to deliberately lose to the professor. These accusations are completely false, despicable, and baseless.

This is a complete denial of the professional ethics of the chess players, a damage to IBM's corporate image, and a disrespect to the professors. It is an extremely despicable act, and IBM has already contacted law firms to sue and seek compensation from all media outlets that have raised questions.

At the same time, I would also like to explain to everyone here whether, from IBM's perspective, it is better for the professor to fail or succeed.

Isn't that right? The professor suffered his first major setback at IBM's Technology Ark.

IBM's Technology Ark became the professor's Waterloo.

Such explosive news would obviously have a better publicity effect for IBM.

This is a common business tactic, and it's clear that doing so would have a greater marketing benefit for IBM.

However, doing so also offended the professor, as most of the orders came from IBM, the Department of Defense, the military, and NASA, and they couldn't afford to offend Lin Ran no matter what.

Offending Lin Ran for the sake of marketing results is a classic case of penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Therefore, before this chess match, Thomas had been repeatedly asking Lin Ran to confirm whether IBM should help bribe the chess player, ever since he decided to do this a year ago.

Should we find some excuse to replace Fisher, this "disobedient" chess player?

In other words, Lin Ran's firm statement that it wasn't necessary demonstrated his complete confidence, which is why IBM didn't take any drastic measures.

If it were someone else, IBM would not hesitate to tamper with the equipment.

Some even see this as an opportunity to curry favor with the professor, who is not short of money. What could be more pleasing to him than adding another layer of brilliance to his reputation?
Thomas and other IBM executives regretted not being able to manipulate things, feeling they had missed a valuable opportunity.

"Therefore, the allegations against IBM are completely unfounded."

Thank you again, Professor, for your presence, which has added a legendary touch to IBM's technological ark. Thank you also to all the guests who have witnessed the Professor's chess prowess here.

And now, for the final segment of today's event, please have our staff make the arrangements. Next up is a game between the professor and Deep Blue 2.0.

After Thomas finished speaking, the lighting effects, which had been focused on the rest of the stage and were completely dark, came on.

Staff members served Coca-Cola and coffee to the audience as needed.

Philip K. Dick shook his head slightly as he drank his Coke.

His wife, Annie, noticed this and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Philip K. Dick said, "In the last two years, a lot of science fiction works with cyberpunk elements have emerged on the market."

People began to think about the essence of the cyberpunk society the professor was talking about.

And with advanced technology and abundant material wealth, will humanity, as the Soviet Union claimed, move towards Socialism and gain greater freedom?

Just as the professor said, we will enter a cyberpunk world where giant corporations control human life, aging, illness, and death.

Human beings as individuals are becoming increasingly vulnerable, and the capital that empowers people through technology is rapidly alienating them.

I'm just thinking about this.

The professor's attitude was pessimistic, and I think there's a reason for it.

Because in essence, humanity's struggle against capitalism relies on superhuman beings like professors.

Anne asked, "Do you mean a Superman like Clark Kent?"

Superman Clark Kent first appeared in the comic book magazine Action Comics on April 18, 1938, and has remained America's enduring character ever since.

Philip K. Dick nodded: "Exactly. Do you think the professor isn't Superman?"
However, the difference between him and Clark Kent lies in the fact that the professor's superhuman abilities are manifested in his brain, while Clark Kent's differences are manifested in his appearance.

But in some ways, the professor is a superhuman with even greater power than Superman.

No matter what he does, people will categorize him as a genius, not a monster.

Because outwardly, the professor is no different from ordinary people, but inwardly, he is probably even more different from ordinary people than Clark Kent is from ordinary people.

When I visited Hugo Gernsback not long ago, he shared a similar view with me: professors are supermen.

Hugo Gernsback was the editor-in-chief of the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories and is also known as the father of science fiction. The Hugo Award winner is him, not Victor Hugo, the author of Les Misérables.

(Hugo Gernsback experiencing early VR devices)
“Mr. Gernsback even regrets that he’s too old; if he were younger, he would definitely have created a superhero comic based on the professor,” Philip K. Dick said.

Hugo Gernsback would die six months later in August 1967.

Philip K. Dick took another sip of his Coke, feeling a bit clearer-headed: "I've gone a bit off-topic."

First, you need to accept the idea that the professor is a superman.

Anne nodded: "Of course. Before, I could hardly imagine that a human could play chess with eight people at the same time, let alone that these eight people were all chess champions, the eight best chess players in America."

The professor is a superman when it comes to using his brain.

Philip K. Dick said, "You're right."

If we disregard contributions, the professor's extraordinary qualities, as demonstrated by him, far surpass those of Einstein.

It's difficult for the average person to understand how powerful Einstein's brain was without the help of popular science, but just hearing about what the professor did would make them think that this person was not normal.

That's why I would call him Superman.

Then return to cyberpunk society.

There is no doubt that capital empowered by technology possesses greater strength.

Because tools act as amplifiers, as humans invent increasingly powerful tools, they can unleash greater productivity. This also means that capital needs to reduce the number of employees required to maintain the same production capacity.

Such technological advancements make the arrival of the cyberpunk society the professor described quite possible.

For ordinary people, whether they can escape the fate of being controlled by giant corporations depends on superhumans.

I sighed because it's too difficult for ordinary people to compete with corporations for the status of superhumans.

Even a superhuman like the professor, who studied under Professor Horkheimer, proposed the theory of systemic oppression and realized that America was a white-dominated country.

However, he still finds it difficult to avoid getting involved with businesses.

Whether it was the collaboration with IBM or the earlier collaboration with the Morgan family.

This made me realize that it seems inevitable that I'm heading towards the cyberpunk future the professor predicted.

In the past, I thought the random appearance of superhumans was a mechanism to prevent human society from becoming cyberpunk. Now, in this technological ark proposed by the professor and built by IBM, I feel that perhaps the random appearance of superhumans is not a brake, but an accelerator.

“Perhaps this is just the professor’s choice,” Anne said.

Philip shook his head: "No, it's inevitable."

After Philip finished speaking, Lin Ran reappeared.

At this point, the other eight chessboards had been removed, leaving only one chessboard on the table, connected to the huge computer matrix behind it by cables.

The outcome of this match was even more predictable, as Deep Blue lost in less than ten minutes.

Then Thomas went on stage and personally hung a plaque with "Randolph Lin" engraved on it on the wall covered with names.

The nameplates for the other people were handwritten on paper, while Lin Ran's was made of metal and hung at the top.

This wall displays the names of all the humans who have defeated Deep Blue. If someone is defeated by Deep Blue, their name is taken down and placed on the other side. Therefore, the media refers to it as humanity's last line of defense.

This means that if this defense line is breached, artificial intelligence will completely defeat humanity.

"It is an honor to witness the professor's miracle with you all on the eve of Christmas."

I hope that during my lifetime working for IBM, I will be able to take down the professor's plaque from this wall.

I believe that moment will be the most glorious moment of my time at IBM.

This is because it was the result of the collective wisdom of IBM engineers defeating the professor; it was the collective wisdom of ordinary people defeating the most outstanding genius in human history.

We hope that by then, everyone here will be able to witness this with us.

After Thomas finished speaking, Lin Ran smiled and said, "I'm looking forward to it too."

Although Russia is also a white country with a religious tradition in the past, they stopped celebrating Christmas after Russia was prefixed with the Soviet Union.

As an atheist country, the official celebration of festivals with religious overtones is prohibited.

Christmas falls into this category.

New Year's Day, January 1st, has become the most important winter holiday, incorporating many Christmas traditions, such as decorating New Year's trees and giving gifts.

Starting in December, news about America's moon landing began to reach Soviet Russia, including the moment when American cosmonaut America stepped onto the moon, which Soviet television also broadcast a short clip of in its news programs.

It wasn't broadcast live, but it was rebroadcast as a news report.

This put enormous pressure on the space agency located in Moscow.

On Christmas Eve, the conference room was brightly lit, the dim light casting dappled shadows on the heavy oak furniture.

The walls are covered with design drawings of the R-7 rocket and the Sputnik satellite, all testaments to the glorious history of the Soviet Russian Space Agency.

In the corner, a Panda brand radio from China emitted a clear sound, broadcasting news from across the ocean.

"...Apollo 11 successfully landed on the moon, and Aldrin became the second human to set foot on the moon. NASA Administrator Randolph Lin did not attend the White House press conference, which was seen as a sign of a rift between the president and the professor, although the professor claimed it was because he had to attend a New York mathematicians' Christmas party..."

The announcer's voice was deep and clear.

Vasily Mishin, Korolev's successor, sat at the head of the long table.

Korolev's death was kept secret.

After all, as a figure who was on par with Lin Ran in the aerospace field, the Soviet Union did not want the outside world to know that they had lost a giant in the field of aerospace engineering, and to make the outside world think that they could no longer compete with NASA.

Vasily's expression showed both excitement and pressure.

The excitement comes from the Kremlin.

In late 1966, something unusual happened in Soviet Russia; some things that were bound to happen were bound to happen sooner or later.

Outsiders, particularly institutions in countries like America that specialize in studying Soviet Russia, have also become aware of this anomaly.

People within Soviet Russia were even more sensitive to this anomaly.

After all, they are in the thick of it.

However, for the technical bureaucrats of the Russian Space Agency, this impact may not necessarily be a bad thing.

Because Nikita cut their budget and put more money into the semiconductor sector, into the microelectronics centers in Dresden, Eastern Europe, and Zelenogler, outside Moscow.

This involves not only budget cuts, but also cuts to the engineers.

Following Korolev's death earlier this year, the Kremlin has been cutting back on support for space and military projects.

Now, after attending a meeting at the Kremlin not long ago, Mishin realized that the situation was about to undergo an unprecedented change.

It seems like they're going to start emphasizing military and aerospace again.

Valentin Glushko sat opposite him, expressionless, staring at a rocket design drawing left behind by Korolev on the table.

As one of the Soviet Union's top rocket engine designers, Valentin was used to remaining calm under pressure, but the turmoil in his heart was hard to completely conceal because America's progress was too fast.

They originally thought America wouldn't be able to land on the moon independently until 1968.

As a result, it was completed two years ahead of schedule.

Their early moon landing was a product of luck and cooperation.

This time, instead of using the joint lunar landing technology, America used a new approach: separating and reuniting the command module.

Using the new technological approach, the timeline was even shortened.

This caused a huge shock to the Russian space agency.

Glushko's mind flashed back to the image of the professor in the Cape Canaveral control center, full of confidence, and he couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions: the professor was the biggest threat to the enemy, but he had to admit that the enemy was exceptionally capable, and then his side had lost Korolev.

"Comrade Glushko," Mishin asked, "what are your thoughts on the N-2 rocket?"

Glushko slowly raised his head: "Comrade Mishin, I'm sorry, but I still think the same thing applies. It will be difficult to solve the problem of the 30 engines of the N-2 rocket in the short term."

Korolev was great, but he was not a god.

The blueprints he left behind cannot solve all the problems. To build N-2, we have too many problems to overcome, and now we are facing a serious shortage of manpower.

More importantly, we are competing with NASA, and we lack top talent like professors.

We know very well that neither you, me, nor any other engineer can compare to a professor.

The number of engineers is secondary; the top engineers are more important.

A wolf pack relies on its alpha wolf.

The N-2 here is actually the N-1 of the original timeline.
Two years ago, under Korolev's leadership, the Soviet Union hastily developed the N-1, which was just a simplified version of the N-1.

The original N-1 had a carrying capacity of 95 tons.

It can transport 95 tons of material to low Earth orbit and 33 tons of material to lunar transfer orbit.

Glushko and Mishin both knew that developing N-2 was essential for a solo moon landing.

Relying solely on N-1 will likely result in getting up but not being able to come back down.

You could do it that way in the past.

But now that America has successfully landed on the moon solo, sent two people up there, and brought them both back, it's clearly not feasible to offer such a one-way ticket.

This approach does not prove how advanced Soviet Russia's technological capabilities were at all; on the contrary, it will have the opposite effect.

“We can’t live in the professor’s shadow forever. We need to find our own path and leverage the collective power of Socialism.” Mission paused, gazing at the distant night sky.

Glushko sighed: "Don't you understand yet? The professor's success hasn't served as a wake-up call for you."

His team is efficient and decisive because the manager is a professor.

We must acknowledge this: in the long run, I think we should also train our own professors; in the short term, I think we need to find our own professors.

Mission looked puzzled, waiting for the other party to explain in detail.

Glushko continued, "Comrade Mishin, ideology cannot solve technical problems."

The Saturn V rocket used the simple and reliable F-1 engine, with a single engine producing 150 million pounds of thrust.

As for our N-2, with its 30 NK-15 engines, we all know how difficult it is to synchronize and control them.

I had long ago suggested using fewer RD-270 engines, but you insisted on Korolev's design.

I know the RD-270 is still in the testing phase, and we can't wait. The N-2 is Korolev's last work.

But there is no doubt that the design of the N-2 rocket's 30 NK-15 engines had fatal flaws, and the complexity of synchronous control made every test a tightrope walk.

We should not cling to Korolev's legacy.

We need to find professors who fit our needs, and I think collaborating with China would be a good approach.

"China?"

“Yes, I believe money will be our professor,” Glushko said.

(End of this chapter)