The Great C
Encyclopedia
The Great C is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick
, first published in 1953 in Fantastic Story Magazine
and later in The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick
. It has since been republished several times, including in Beyond Lies the Wub
in 1988.
The story is about a human tribe living in the distant future in a post-apocalyptic world, where a computer called the Great C has destroyed the world. Each year, the tribe sends a young man with three questions to the Great C, and if the computer cannot answer the questions, it will leave the tribe alone. On the other hand, if the computer can answer, the young man will be killed by the computer.
A young man from the tribe is sent to the Great C, with three questions prepared by the wise men of the tribe. He reaches the Great C in a destroyed building in the ruins of a city. The man asks his questions, first, he asks where rain comes from. The Great C answers with ease. His two other questions (why doesn't the sun fall out of the sky? and How the world came to existence?) are also easily answered by the computer. The Great C then absorbs the man and uses his body as energy, awaiting next year, for the next young man. Meanwhile, the tribe prepares for next year, coming up with difficult questions.
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
, first published in 1953 in Fantastic Story Magazine
Fantastic Story Magazine
Fantastic Story Magazine was a 1950-55 science fiction pulp magazine which merged pulp reprints with new stories.It was published on a quarterly schedule by Best Books, a subsidiary imprint of Standard Magazines. Initially priced at 25 cents, the 160-page debut issue was titled Fantastic Story...
and later in The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick
The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick
The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick is a collection of science fiction stories by Philip K. Dick. It was first published by Underwood-Miller in 1987 as a five volume set. See Philip K...
. It has since been republished several times, including in Beyond Lies the Wub
Beyond Lies the Wub (collection)
Beyond Lies the Wub is a collection of science fiction stories by Philip K. Dick. It was first published by Gollancz in 1988 and reprints Volume I of The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick...
in 1988.
The story is about a human tribe living in the distant future in a post-apocalyptic world, where a computer called the Great C has destroyed the world. Each year, the tribe sends a young man with three questions to the Great C, and if the computer cannot answer the questions, it will leave the tribe alone. On the other hand, if the computer can answer, the young man will be killed by the computer.
A young man from the tribe is sent to the Great C, with three questions prepared by the wise men of the tribe. He reaches the Great C in a destroyed building in the ruins of a city. The man asks his questions, first, he asks where rain comes from. The Great C answers with ease. His two other questions (why doesn't the sun fall out of the sky? and How the world came to existence?) are also easily answered by the computer. The Great C then absorbs the man and uses his body as energy, awaiting next year, for the next young man. Meanwhile, the tribe prepares for next year, coming up with difficult questions.