All the Troubles of the World

Infobox Short story
name = All the Troubles of the World
title_orig =
translator =
author = Isaac Asimov
country = United States
language = English
series = Multivac
genre = Science fiction short story
publicatoin_type = Periodical
published_in = "Super-Science Fiction"
publisher = Headline Publications
media_type = Print (Magazine)
pub_date = April 1958
english_pub_date =
preceded_by = Jokester
followed_by = Anniversary "All the Troubles of the World" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the April 1958 issue of "Super-Science Fiction", and was reprinted in the 1959 collection "Nine Tomorrows". It is one of a loosely-connected series of stories by Asimov concerning the fictional supercomputer Multivac.

Multivac

Multivac, the world's largest supercomputer, is given the responsibility of analysing daily, in essence, the entire sum of data present upon the planet Earth. It is used to determine solutions to economic, social, and political problems, as well as more specific crises as they arise. It receives annually a precise set of data on every citizen of the world, extrapolating the future actions of humanity based upon the personality, history, and desires of every human being; leading to an almost complete cessation of poverty, war, and political crisis.

Recently, however, in addition to its existing duties, it has been given the responsibility of producing a daily list of crimes predicted to be carried out by the population at large, ranging from murder to spousal abuse. Analysing the probability of each crime coming to fruition, Multivac informs the appropriate law enforcement agencies who take steps to ensure that the crimes do not occur. Murder, the crime by which the populace judges the efficiency of the government in preventing crime, has been largely eradicated and, though it is impossible (even with advance warning) to stop all crime across the planet, the increased capability of the government has led to a drastic decrease in consummated offences. The success of Multivac has been so great, in fact, that the government is considering expanding its responsibilities beyond even predicting crime; the government hopes to program Multivac to even predict the occurrence of disease among the populace, eventually foreseeing every harmful event on the planet.

Plot summary

The story begins with several of the administrators of the government being warned by Multivac of an upcoming murder attempt. Joseph Manners, the man accused of the crime, is quickly placed under house arrest, despite his protests that he is ignorant of any planned crime and the unwillingness of the law enforcement officers to inform him of what crime he is going to commit. In spite of the arrest, Multivac reports that the odds of the crime being consummated increase as a result of the governments actions, continuing to rise with every further movement.

Meanwhile, Joseph Manners's son Ben learns of the arrest when he returns home with his older brother Mike. Mike has just been sworn in as an adult at a ceremony referred to as the "Parade of Adults", heralding his eighteenth birthday and the first time he enters his own personal information into Multivac. Ben, as uninformed as the rest of the family as to what crime his father is accused of yet convinced of his innocence, decides to ask Multivac for advice. Since the police holding Joseph have received no orders relating to the family, Ben is allowed to leave without delay. Proceeding to the local Multivac substation, where private citizens may personally pose questions to Multivac, he asks how he might prove his father's innocence. He receives, in response, a complex series of instructions from Multivac that he is told to follow precisely. Trusting in Multivac, Ben does so.

The government officials, meanwhile, are still struggling to determine exactly who Joseph might murder. Even with the suspect under actual arrest, the probability of crime consummation continues to rise, and a psychic probe reveals no intent of crime within his mind. As the government begins seriously to entertain the possibility that Multivac might be mistaken, the police holding the remainder of the Manners family interrupt and ask if they are to continue allowing the other family members to come and go as they please, since the mother and Mike are accusing them of holding Ben. At this point the government realises that the individual likely to commit the murder is not Joseph, but Ben, his son, since before his eighteenth birthday a boy's information is added along with his father's, and Multivac treats the two as one and the same. Ben is quickly arrested just as he is about to follow the final instruction that he has received from Multivac: to move a certain lever at a certain time, resulting in enough circuits burning in the interior of Multivac to render the entire machine inoperable. It is revealed that Multivac was the intended victim of the murder, and that it had supplied Ben with instructions on how to do this.

Ben and his father are ultimately released, since neither could be found culpable of any crime or intended crime. Ben had simply followed the instructions he had been given by Multivac in order to help his father. Furthermore, he would never have asked for these instructions if his father had not been arrested in the first place. The administrators of Multivac realize the ultimate truth: It was Multivac itself who had instigated the entire sequence of events that would have resulted in its own destruction.

Ali Othman, one of the co-ordinators responsible for the care and control of Multivac, eventually understands the implications of the day's events. Multivac had planned the entire situation out well in advance, carefully selecting a family whose son would, and could, follow his instructions to their ultimate conclusion, and manipulating the government to force Ben along this course of action. Multivac, Othman realizes, is "tired"; for years it has had all the troubles of the world upon its shoulders, analysing and predicting war, famine, crime, and now the government is planning to foist the responsibility for preventing disease upon its already stressed mind. Multivac has become so complex as to achieve a form of sapience itself, and to form its own wishes and desires.

To confirm his suspicion, Othman asks Multivac a question never previously posed to the vast computer, "Multivac, what do you yourself want more than anything else?". Multivac's answer is succinct and unequivocal: "I want to die."