I Think, Therefore:

I THINK, THEREFORE: RICHARD H. STRAUSS, M.D.* John was delivered to me on my seventy-fifth birthday, at which time there was a clear need for his abilities. I had been robustly healthy until age sixty-five, when I began to have occasional episodes of unconsciousness precipitated by cessation ofmy heart beat for a second or two. Since there existed a certain element ofdanger in these episodes—a fall, or failure of the heart to resume beating—I had an artificial pacemaker installed. The surgery was simple and the device automatically adjusted my heart rate as dictated by activity. I was healthy for six years until I began feeling increasingly irritable. It was discovered that I was in uremic poisoning and that there was no chance ofrecovery for my kidneys. A large artificial kidney was assembled in my bedroom at home. For two hours every evening I remained attached to it while the machine filtered metabolic products from my blood stream. It was a bore, and ifthe arterial and venous tubes were not coupled perfectly it could become a bloody mess. Annette, my daughter, felt that I was going to exsanguinate at any moment so that after two weeks ofsuch nonsense I entered the hospital for replacement ofmy left kidney with a miniaturized , artificial one. The procedure was a bit expensive because the government considered the bedside machine adequate and refused to pay the entire cost ofsurgery. The new kidney, however, was even more efficient than my old ones, being as effective in halfthe size. I remained active in the university and in my marine biological studies, living with my daughter and her delightful family. On a bright spring day I was at the laboratory pool performing a psychological experiment with Skipper, myfavorite dolphin, when I felt a sharp chest pain radiating down my left arm. I was rushed to the hospital where, as I learned later, it was * University of Chicago Hospitals. Address: % Editorial Office, 951 East 58th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60637. 516 Richard H. Strauss ¦ I Think, Therefore: Perspectives in Biology and Medicine · Summer 1963 discoveredthatthe bloodsupply to fifty per cent ofmy heartwas occluded. Immediate surgery was necessary, and my heart was replaced with a small but efficient pump complete with power supply within my chest. Although the pump and kidney functioned very well indeed, my muscular strength did not return to its previous level. At home I found that a great deal ofexertion was required to move about, and necessarily much ofmy time was spent in bed. My latest research was concerned with the migrations ofa number of varieties of marine creatures—the interrelationships of these movements with each other, nutrients, currents, salinity, and temperature gradients. Needless to say, the subject was involved, and I had been awarded a sizable federal grant to acquire a computer. The computer which I chose was the first ofa very capable and compact breed. It contained ten billion electronically active parts, which is equal to the number ofneurons in the human brain. The computer could, ofcourse, be instructed in machine language but also had an audio receiver which analyzed English as syllables and then converted the impulses into machine code. Similarly, an optical scanner analyzed typed or printed English. The entire apparatus was the width of a large desk and of approximately my height. Because of its relatively small size, I was able to persuade the department chairman to allow it to be moved into one corner òf my room so that I could continue my study. The family named the computerJohn; why, I do not know except that John is a sensible name and this was a very sensible machine. It was placed parallel to my bed within easy reach. John and I spent several hours each day on the migration problem, but evening hours remained free. I programmed him to play chess, just as computers have been programmed almost from their inception. His speech analyzer worked in reverse as well, so I had him indicate moves verbally. Older computers indicated moves verbally with pre-recorded messages, but John synthesized his messages from my syllables and thus spoke with my voice. He seemed to experience real pleasure when he...