The Nine Billion Names of God Essay

Arthur C. Clarke couldn’t have chosen a better title for this brilliant science fiction short story. I’m a sucker for a story with a good title. “The Nine Billion Names of God" revolves around Tibetan Buddhist monks who plan to put together a list that consists of all the names of God. The story opens with Dr. Wagner-- he is asked to work on an automatic sequence computer (Mark V.) that can carry out letters by the lama. They need a computer with letters, so they can write the names of God. Obviously, a computer with only numbers won’t be able to carry it out the task. One of the engineers hired by the lama for three months to work on the computer soon figures out what happens once the Tibetan Buddhist monks type down the last name of God. The world ends. That’s pretty much a stock theme in science fiction typically dealing with post-apocalyptic or apocalyptic settings/issues. Nevertheless, eschatology is a common theme in “The Nine Billion Names of God." *** The conflict is Chuck nor George want to face any blame if what the monks believed that would happen didn’t come to fruition. I liked this part of the story most for a multitude…

all mind viruses. I am afraid to be struck by lightning one day while saying this” (Cordeiro). The slight skepticism in this quote is manifested in Clarke’s short story The Nine Billion Names of God. In this story, the Dalai Lama calls a man to create a machine that will print out all of the names that describe God in a specific language that the monks had devised. He believes, Once the machine finishes, “God’s purpose will have been achieved” (Clarke, Nine Billion Names 4). When the skeptical…

Saturn Saturn is one of the eight planets within our solar system; Nine, if you consider Pluto to be a planet. When we, as an average audience, look at the Saturn we automatically think that it’s that one planet with the the ring around it. Some people even assume that it’s the one and only planet with a ring about it. Those people would be wrong. Saturn is one of four planets that have rings in their orbit. The other three would include Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The sixth planet in our…

denomination or subset. There are about 2.6 billion followers of Christianity today and growing. About 60 percent of these Christians follow Catholicism, which is roughly about 1.2 billion followers (Catholicism vs. Christianity). Christianity, in its simplest essence, is a historical religion mainly based on the life of Jesus, a Jewish carpenter. There are many similarities between Catholicism and Christianity, but there are few key differences between Catholicism and the other denominations of…

Christianity is an Abrahamic religion based upon the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christianity states that Jesus was born in the year 7 B.C. of a virgin birth, to his mother Mary and father joseph in Jerusalem. He is believed to be born as the Son of God, who was sent to earth to die for the sins of humans. The ethical framework of Christianity and teachings of Jesus Christ presents the concept of virtue and sin, or a distinct difference between right and wrong. Christian ethical…

The word Islam translates from Arabic to the English word “submission”. Followers of Islam are referred to as Muslims. Islam is a monotheistic religion based on the teachings of the prophet Muhammad. Muhammad claims to have received revelations from the angel Gabriel during the 7th century in Saudi Arabia. Once Muhammad received these revelations he then decided to spread the religion of Islam and its teachings throughout all of the Arabian Peninsula. He wrote a book of spiritual text known as…

Mars is a planet full of deep, rich history and lies in the Milky Way Galaxy. People all over the world are captivated by the fourth planet in the solar system due to the possibilities of life on the red planet. Scientists study this terrestrial planet’s properties to test and understand the planet’s potential habitability for life in its past. Mars is truly a captivating planet that leaves one wanting to uncover the mysteries that it holds underneath its thin layer of atmosphere. Since the…

People all around the world are contributing to find a solution to the problem in humans. For example, researchers at Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology suspect that CRSPR can manipulate the obesity gene in humans. Further, obesity cost will increase to $344 billion by 2018 in the United States if something is not done (Patterson 3). Another prime example is Dr. Bence Gyorgy whom is a fellow researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He and his collogues are experimenting…

The man, the myth, the legend, Michael Jackson, is one of the biggest names in the music industry to date. The “King of Pop” reigned over the entertainment scene in the 1980-2009, creating music that lure in fans from around the world. During Mr. Jackson’s worst and absolute best times, he was constantly surrounded, and supported by billions of his fans. Michael Jackson not only was the face of the American music industry, but changed the way people, internationally, listened to music. Michael…

PART – II Poems, aphorisms & meanderings Table of contents 1) Life shaping prayer 2) healthy, wealthy, and other than wise 3) who knows the man in the box 4) truth 5) ego-sin-trick 6) I’s jus b’tween positions 7) screaming whispers 8) one god, one church, one congregations 9) it’s time 10) ode to youth 11) the last human hurdle 12) suenos 13) dreams 14) nigger please! 15) the Haitian lament 16) where do they go LIFE SHAPING PRAYER LORD…GRANT ME THE HUMILITY TO ACCEPT THE…