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I recall a short story where a new computer is constructed. And the Mayor of Earth turns it on and asks the ultimate first question - "Is there God?". A lightning bolt fuses the switch to ON permanently and the computer says "There is now".

I am sure Isaac Asimov wrote it, but I could be wrong. I am looking for the collection/book it is in.

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  • Are you confident that this story would only have been published within one collection, rather than several? If so, why? And do you recall anything about any of the other stories in the collection you're looking for?
    – LogicDictates
    Commented Jun 1 at 5:05
  • I'm pretty sure I've read this one as well, and while I'm not as certain as you are about its author, it sure does seem like him.
    – user150380
    Commented Jun 1 at 5:18
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    scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/82767/…
    – Clara Díaz Sanchez
    Commented Jun 1 at 5:19
  • Even without registering, you can search the Internet Archive copy of Angels and Spaceships for the word "God". See the two quotes from p. 37. archive.org/details/angelsspaceships0000fred/page/36/mode/…
    – user14111
    Commented Jun 1 at 6:04
  • @user14111, that link points to the correct text as I recall it. That is the correct story. I don't have that collection though. Now I just need to find which one of the books I own has that story. :-)
    – Rohit Gupta
    Commented Jun 1 at 10:58

1 Answer 1

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That's "Answer" by Fredric Brown. Anthologised in "Angels and Spaceships" and doubtless lots of other places too. An oldie from the 1950s.

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