From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.ecf!utgpu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!dg-rtp!sheol!throopw Mon May 25 14:05:15 EDT 1992
Article 5637 of comp.ai.philosophy:
Xref: newshub.ccs.yorku.ca comp.ai.philosophy:5637 rec.arts.sf.written:7585
Path: newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.ecf!utgpu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!dg-rtp!sheol!throopw
>From: throopw@sheol.UUCP (Wayne Throop)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy,rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: "Is there a God?"
Message-ID: <4689@sheol.UUCP>
Date: 13 May 92 22:44:28 GMT
References: <1992May11.210524.30977@mp.cs.niu.edu>
Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written
Lines: 39

(Note the followup-to)

> rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert)
> I guess we should remember the old joke.  A scientist, having put the
> finishing touches to his superintelligent machine, turned on the power.
> He then exercised his rights, by asking the first question.  "Who is
> God?" he asked.
>  "I am God" replied the computer.  And as the scientist stepped forward
> to pull the plug, he was struck by lightning.

A likely origin of this story is an SF story, from the late 40's I think,
published in Analog(Astounding) I think, by Fredric Brown (maybe).
(The story as a joke may pre-date the SF story, but I think not.)

As I recall it, the crucial event was closing a massive switch which
interconnected/powered-up/whatever the superdupercomputer, and the dialog
ran:
        "Is there a God?"
        "NOW there is!!!"

.. and as above, the hapless scientist was killed by a lightning bolt
while reaching for the switch.  The lightning bolt, with a fine sense
of economy (and in a scene later echoed in the M5 episode of Star Trek)
permanently fused the switch in the ON/online/connected/whatever
position.

As you may gather, my memory of the story is rather more vivid than 
my memory of the  publication particulars.

Question: can somebody fill me in on the author and publication history
of this little gem?  I don't seem to have problems remembering who
wrote other classics of computers-related-to-God (eg: "The Nine Billion
Names of God" by Clarke  ("...the stars started to wink out, one by
one"), or "The Last Question" by Asimov ("... and the Cosmic AC said
`Let there be Light!'") (quotations approximate)).  But this one 
("NOW there is!!!") always seems to elude me, despite the clear memory
I have of it (possibly because it tells so well in the joke form...).
--
Wayne Throop  ...!mcnc!dg-rtp!sheol!throopw


