Blakes 71978

Orac:
A computer must, by definition, be logical. But it can also mirror the logic of its creator.

Soolin:
You mean it's an extension of his mind.

Orac:
[testily] No, that is *not* what I mean.

Soolin:
His personality, then.

Orac:
[more considerate] A better definition, but still not quite accurate.

Kerr Avon:
Would it know how the booby traps on the orbiter are programmed?

Orac:
As yet, I don't have enough data to answer that question.

Kerr Avon:
[growing impatient] *If* it knew, could you extract the information from it?

[Orac doesn't respond immediately. Avon gives Orac a whack out of pique]

Kerr Avon:
Come on! That's a simple enough question.

Orac:
There might be problems.

Kerr Avon:
Why? You have extracted information from Federation computers before now. This is just a hodgepodge of three or four of them. You have already said that it is inferior to you.

Orac:
The difficulty is not technical. It's more one of, uh, attitude.

Kerr Avon:
Ah. You mean the *logic* of its creator.

Orac:
Exactly. Let me remind you of ancient Earth mythology: the Delphic Oracle would answer questions truthfully without giving a true answer.

Kerr Avon:
So what we need is not the right answer, but the right question.

Soolin:
And in circumstances where any mistake would prove fatal?