welcome the challenge of trying out your new "smart-stupids", of
which I have only the slightest knowledge by means of hearsay.
Crab: Then let us proceed! But excuse my oversight! I should have
introduced my guests to you. This is Mr. Tortoise, this is Achilles, and
the Author, Douglas Hofstadter.
Babbage: Very pleased to make your acquaintance, I'm sure.
(Everyone walks over toward one of the smart-stupids, and Babbage sits
down and lets his fingers run over the keyboard.)
A most pleasant touch.
Crab: I am glad you like it.
(All at once, Babbage deftly massages the keyboard with graceful strokes,
inputting one command after another. After a few seconds, he sits back,
and in almost no time, the screen begins filling with figures. In a flash, it is
totally covered with thousands of tiny digits, the first few of which go:
"3.14159265358979323846264 ... ")Achilles: Pi!
Crab: Exquisite! I'd never imagined that one could calculate so many
digits of pi so quickly, and with so tiny an algorithm.
Babbage: The credit belongs exclusively to the smart-stupid. My role was
merely to see what was already potentially present in it, and to exploit
its instruction set in a moderately efficient manner. Truly, anyone who
practices can do such tricks.
Tortoise: Do you do any graphics, Mr. Babbage?
Babbage: I can try.
Crab: Wonderful! Here, let me take you to another one of my smart-
stupids. I want you to try them all!
(And so Babbage is led over to another of the many smart-stupids, and
takes a seat. Once again, his fingers attack the keyboard of the smart-
stupid, and in half a trice, there appear on the screen an enormous number
of lines, swinging about on the screen.)
Crab: How harmonious and pleasing these swirling shapes are, as they
constantly collide and interfere with each other!
Author: And they never repeat exactly, or even resemble ones which have
come before. It seems an inexhaustible mine of beauty.
Tortoise: Some are simple patterns which enchant the eye; others are
indescribably complex convolutions which boggle and yet simulta-
neously delight the mind.
Crab: Were you aware, Mr. Babbage, that these are color screens?
Babbage: Oh, are they? In that case, I can do rather more with this
algorithm. Just a moment. (Types in afew new commands, then pushes two
keys down at once and holds them.) As I release these two keys, the display
will include all the colors of the spectrum. (Releases them.)
Achilles: Oh, what spectacular color! Some of the patterns look like they're
jumping out at me now!
(^728) Six-Part Ricercar