[ExI] another fun story, part one of two

[Adrian Tymes]

On Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 12:23 AM spike jones via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> With a straight face, Rudy Rucker asked me for details about the book,
> such as my favorite story in the collection.  I related the bursting out in
> maniacal laughter in the San Jose airport upon suddenly getting the joke
> three or four months after finishing Mathenauts.  The story was so strange:
> a man set up a mathematical research company, where researchers looking for
> work would come to him, no effort on his part, no recruiting, they came on
> their own.  They would come and volunteer to work for a pittance, doing
> mathematical research.  The evil mad… mathematician… had discovered a way,
> invented a machine of some sort, to control the emotions of his employees.
> If they worked hard and found the answers which made the mad mathematician
> money… he could make them happy, and if they failed to work hard enough, he
> could make them sad, with his sneaky mad mathematician device.  He was
> prospering, controlling the willing employees.  The story goes on to
> describe one of the employees figuring out what he was doing, becoming
> disillusioned, telling the others who likewise became disillusioned, then
> how they managed to escape the controlling mad mathematician, who was
> getting crazy rich off of their work.  After his employees broke the
> machine and escaped, the mad mathematician repaired his device and soon,
> new volunteer researchers came.  He resumed his mad mathematician career.
> It was a very strange story.
>

That seems less MathFi and more about the emotional regulation machine.
Social Science Fi, perhaps.

>
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