"In the world of Ray Bradbury anything is possible. Including, within the vast complex of the telephone system, a spontaneous formation of intelligent life."
From The Story of a Writer: Ray Bradbury, NBC, November 1963. RIP, Mr. Bradbury. (Tip of the hat to BernieS for letting me know about this!)
This reminds of an Arthur C. Clarke short story that appeared in Playboy in the 1960s, "Dial F for Frankenstein". It recounts how the telephone network becomes intelligent after a global communication satellite system is switched on, causing the Network to reach the critical complexity needed for intelligent thought. The story is available on the Internet. Try Google...
Posted by: Dfroula | October 09, 2012 at 09:21 AM
Looks like the video above has been removed and the "associated YouTube account has been terminated due to multiple third-party notifications of copyright infringement." Meh! Gah! Hu'tegh!
["You've been terminated, fucker!" -- Sarah Connors, aka DMCA]
Not so fast, Sarah! (in "Arnoldian" T1 sotto voce)
Alternative, working link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XESDRP82png
"Ray Bradbury - Story of a Writer" (full 25 min. doc./1963)
And: "On what today would have been Bradbury’s 92nd birthday, said Michael Meyer, NASA’s lead scientists for the Mars Exploration Program, “In his honor, we declared the place that Curiosity touched down to be forever known as Bradbury Landing.” Meyer’s announcement was followed by applause for Bradbury, as requested by Pete Theisinger, Curiosity’s project manager."
See: http://wapo.st/Qqzojc
Dr. Schaefer
Posted by: D | October 10, 2012 at 07:50 PM