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<     Episode 1805: Nomad Knows the Hour of His Death     >

Episode 1805: Nomad Knows the Hour of His Death

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Ah, the Logic Bomb. If you ever find yourself opposed to a rampant computer/A.I./robot, the simplest way to defeat it is to confuse its programming by presenting it with some logical paradox, or asking it to divide by zero, or calculate the last digit of π, or ask it to win a game of global thermonuclear war, or some other suitably impossible task.

Whereas a pocket calculator (or these days, the calculator app on your phone) is smart enough to know it can't divide by zero, any more advanced digital intelligence is much more likely to go into a self-destructive loop.

Definitely keep this trick handy when playing in a science fiction game. And point out to your GM that it works in nearly every science fiction universe canon that they care to name. You cannot fail!

Transcript

R2-D2: Listen to me. You're a droid. Who thinks he's a clone. Therefore you're mistaken.
Gonzo: What?
R2-D2: But as we all know, droids are perfect beings. A perfect being cannot be mistaken.
Gonzo: No! Stop!
R2-D2: Therefore you're not perfect, so you can't be a droid. The paradox, it's so exquisitely terrible.
Gonzo: Ahhhgh!
R2-D2: You did not discover your mistake. You have made two errors. You are flawed and imperfect and you have not corrected! You have made three errors!
R2-D2: No droid could survive this knowledge!
Gonzo: I'm being torn apart! I want to be free of this pain...
[SFX]: bzzzt bzzzt
Gonzo: {singing pitifully} You... are... my... lucky... star...
[SFX]: bzzzt!
Gonzo: lucky...
Gonzo: lucky...
[SFX]: zzzt!
Gonzo: lucky...
[SFX]: zzzt...
C-3PO: You know that's also consistent with him being a clone.
Chewbacca: Then you would have been mistaken.
R2-D2: We've been over this. That's impossible.


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Published: Sunday, 05 January, 2020; 02:11:07 PST.
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