Skip to main content

technology - What is the earliest instance of a SciFi work describing a massive universal database of knowledge?


What is the earliest instance of a SciFi work describing a system satisfying the following criteria (basically a massive computer database coupled with the networking system to access it available to everyone)?




  • Database contains 100% of available knowledge (or as practically close to it as possible), necessarily including but not limited to:




    • scientific information





    • personal data




    • news/events







  • All of that information can be queried out, possibly with some controls to satisfy privacy needs.




  • Universal access (e.g. practically any person on Earth can connect as a person, not just select few or limited by profession/organization). This one trips up many possibilities, e.g. H2G2 which arguably might fit the other criteria.




The precise implementation doesn't matter, some supercomputer, a super-AI, a whole planet ala H2G2 or a who-knows-how-it-works black box - doesn't matter. But it must satisfy the rules above.


The earliest one I can think of is from 1978, but it's in Russian (for those who care but can't guess, "BVI" - Big World Informatory - from Strugatsky brothers).



Answer



Mark Twain's short story, From The 'London Times' of 1904, from 1898 is often regarded as the first writing that describes a world-wide communications network for information sharing although I'm not sure if it fits your requirement for a database. While it does mention a level of interactivity and such that would probably require a database of some sort it doesn't explicitly state it outright.



The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster, published in 1909 might fit your requirements better. It's about the dystopian world that develops when a machine that's controlling everything and facilitates the endless discussion of secondhand ideas (sound familiar?) breaks down. Read it and see what you think.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

Which Doctor Who works are canon?

I have been watching a Doctor Who documentary and they mentioned that Paul McGann did audio stories so he wasn't just a one-hit Doctor (and that there are novels featuring his Doctor as well). My question is: is Doctor Who canon just the show, or is it like Star Wars where some books and audios are canon and some are not? The documentary also shows that before 2005 they did audio stories where the Doctor is female and obviously that cannot be — not the female part, but the show doesn't count any female Doctors in episodes like The Day of the Doctor . Answer Nothing, and also everything The definitive piece of writing on Doctor Who canon is this blog post by writer Paul Cornell . I'm essentially going to be summarizing his post here, much less eloquently, but one section I want to quote directly is this: Nobody at the BBC has ever uttered a pronouncement about what is and isn't canonical. (As I'm sure they'd put it, being such enthusiasts for good grammar.) Be...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more