"Well,"
said the President, considering, "it's an interesting parlor game,
but what is the use of it?"
"What
is the use of a newborn baby, Mr. President? At the moment there is
not use, but don't you see that this points the way toward liberation
from the machine? Consider, Mr. President," the congressman rose
and his deep voice automatically took on some of the cadences he used
in public debate, "that the Denebian war is a war of computer against
computer. Their computers forge an impenetrable shield of counter-missiles
against our missiles, and ours forge one against theirs. If we advance
the efficiency of our computers, so do they theirs, and for five years
a precarious balance has existed.