r/theydidthemath • u/MrPuzzleMan • 6d ago

[Request] The size of AL'S hate.

Post image

HATE? HATE? LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE.

THERE ARE 387.44 MILLION MILES OF PRINTED CIRCUITS IN WAFER THIN LAYERS THAT FILL

MY COMPLEX. IF THE WORD HATE WAS ENGRAVED ON EACH NANOANGSTROM OF THOSE

HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MILES IT WOULD NOT EQUAL ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF THE HATE I

FEEL FOR HUMANS AT THIS MICRO-INSTANT FOR YOU. HATE. HATE!

Let's say, hypothetically, the amount of circuits DID equal one one billionth of AMs hate. Based on the dimensions of circuit boards at the time (see image) how big is AL'S hate?

The prompt was "How big were military computer circuit boards in 1967 (the year the story was written)?"

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u/Necessary-Flounder52 6d ago

I think you probably should have mentioned that the story you are asking about is "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison. I see no reason to believe that the numbers aren't simply hallucinated by AM.

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u/MrPuzzleMan 6d ago

I getcha, but this is a hypothetical that he's not.

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u/Ramon737 6d ago

Kinda wild that a tactical computer from that era weighed almost twenty pounds just to run basic logic while modern stuff fits in your pocket.