Twisted Thoughts And Thoughtful Truths On Thursday #018

Twisted Thoughts And Thoughtful Truths On Thursday #018 – The Atrium – Chapter 04 – Eleanor’s Sneaking Suspicions

As promised, I’m releasing some of my upcoming book bi-weekly as part of the Twisted Thoughts And Thoughtful Truths On Thursday series here at SBS.  I don’t expect it to make sense…at least, not at the moment…but that’s okay.  Putting it out here publicly is intended to be motivation to keep me writing it, and that’s all the purpose any of it needs to serve.  Hopefully, if I get lucky, you’ll enjoy it in the process…that’s the best case scenario.  At the moment, I’d predict that things will likely change with the order I put these things out in…and what reads as “chapters” now, might end up becoming pure prologue, if it even ends up making the final cut for the whole story at all.  Regardless, if you find yourself being one of the few that wanna follow along and see where this goes, I can at least promise you that reading what is posted up here at the homepage will provide you with extra insight, details, and ideas that probably won’t even end up being in the book…so perhaps, by reading these postings at the start of each month, you might very well know more about what I’m writing than the publisher will by the time things are all finished. 

I truly hope you enjoy, and thank you for reading.

– Jer @ SBS

The Atrium – Chapter 04 – Eleanor’s Sneaking Suspicions

July 24^th, 1959

To anyone paying remote attention, it had become crystal clear that Eleanor Roosevelt had redefined what it meant to be The First Lady of the United States of America.  Sure, there had been predecessors that had taken up this task or that during the time of their husband’s presidency, but no one had ever been as hands on as Eleanor was.  The part that was keenly aware of this was equally keen to ensure that she’d be remembered for that, and she burned that fuel for daily inspiration.  Eleanor was gifted with the ability to speak her mind without hesitation, and crafty about how to go about getting things done.  Like a powerfully charged atom in a particle, she never stopped moving and vibrated at a higher frequency than the rest.  She was an eternal light in this world, and she knew that would be her legacy.

While it could be perceived that she was loved by many, that hardly meant she went without at least a few folks that couldn’t stand her outspoken behavior, which was still considered to be unladylike by some in the deep south and rural regions of the USA.  Originally the First Lady of New York long before her husband won the White House for the first time, the traditionally staunch religious people of her country still somehow believed that her speech was measured with less weight than that of a man’s – and Eleanor wasn’t having any of that.  If there was a glass ceiling for women and the rest of her gender, she intended to smash through that and render it irreparable, so that those coming afterwards would be able to reach for the stars instead.  She wasn’t purposefully trying to become an icon so much as she simply desired to serve as a genuine inspiration for the generations that would follow.  Through her tireless work day in & day out, her championing of various causes, and her authentic abilities to reach people in ways that had yet to be appreciated, Eleanor was the physical embodiment of real freedom.  Armed with an uncanny grasp of how to wield her influence for the betterment of every citizen in the country her husband presided over, she was unflinching in her mission to create a better world to live in.

She was also drastically ahead of her time when it came to the mechanics of how people think.  Eleanor had foresight like no other she had personally met, and frequently assisted Franklin in drawing various conclusions as to how people would react to different policy proposals as they were being drawn up.  It could be said that she took things a little bit too seriously to say the least, but at the same time, she never passed up on a good joke either & had a penchant for scathing sarcasm that could strip the paint straight from a car.  She was determined – and she acutely aware there was a vast amount of difference between being that and simply being too serious.  Eleanor actually didn’t give a shit about how people saw her, which essentially only made her all the more attractive to everyone looking from the outside in.

Somewhere around three weeks ago, Mrs. Roosevelt was in her garden at home, somewhat despairing over how much the Creeping Jenny plants she’d bought looked like chunky big lumps of greenery fully devoid of all its character now that their short blooming season had long passed.  Still every bit as sharp as ever at the seasoned age of seventy-five and enjoying what would eventually prove to only be a small stint of her retirement before returning to serve the JFK administration a couple years later, Eleanor was debating whether or not to completely remove the Creeping Jenny from her garden altogether.  Was there a reason to continue to hold onto a plant if it no longer flowered?  What purpose would it serve?  She thought carefully about this predicament, and like most humans tend to do, she internalized the scenario and wondered what it would be like if she were to have been treated the same.  When would be the last time she’d have been considered to be in bloom, she wondered, and how many times after did she go on to prove that with each passing year she’d become stronger than the last?  If she were to have been uprooted simply after her time as the First Lady of the United States, she’d never have been able to go on to become the 1^st Chair of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which she was immensely proud of leading – or even more recently, her appointment to 1^st United States Representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which was essentially of equal importance.  “No,” she said out loud as she gently patted the bulky green awkwardness of the Creeping Jenny in her garden, “we are always much more useful in our old age than our youthful days would have us believing, and with a little love & determination, we come back more beautiful & bolder than ever.”

Somewhere off in the distance towards the house she shared briefly with her husband Franklin before he passed away, the sound of the phone ringing rode towards her ears on the wisps of the wind, soon followed by one of her young assistants coming down the steps into the garden to inform her of the call.  “Mrs. Roosevelt, you have a call in the house from a Dr. Samuel in New York – would you like me to take a message?”  Eleanor waved the young lady’s suggestion away, and began the fairly lengthy trek back to the house where she could find out what this doctor wanted from her.  More often than not, these calls turned out to be nothing more than seeking her endorsement for this or that, but Eleanor’s curiosity and spirited interest in what was happening in the world she lived in seemed truly determined to outlive her physical body, as if these aspects of her personality were immortal and carry into the future without her.

After several minutes had passed as she brought her old bones up the stairwell from the garden on into the house, she sat down in her favorite chair by the phone, pleased to take the pressure off her feet and be out of the heat of the sun, if only for a moment.  Placing the receiver between her neck and her ear, she spoke with the resilient confidence one would expect from such an extraordinary historical figure.  “This is Eleanor Roosevelt,” she said in a boldness not typical of septuagenarians, “how can I assist you?”

Dr. Arthur Samuel couldn’t help but chuckle with glee when he heard the way she answered the phone like she was immediately ready to go into battle and fight some kind of crime to save the city.  He managed to collect himself quickly and calming slid back into the professional reasons as to why he was making the phone call.  “Madam President,” he said, addressing her the way most people still did.  Once a ‘Madam President,’ always a Madam President he thought to himself as he began, if nothing else, it communicated the respect & dignity that Mrs. Roosevelt had earned the right to.  “Madam President,” he restarted, “thank you so much for taking a moment to receive my call.”  She was listening carefully on her side of the line, and continued to allow him the opportunity to explain why he was calling her at all.  “I know we don’t know each other – yet – but I’m hoping to change that if I can just take a mere five minutes of your time to explain what I’d like to show you here at my office in New York.  We’ve had a real breakthrough here in our research at International Business Machines, and though the full scope of its possibilities might not take its true shape for several years or even decades from now, I think you’d be particularly interested by what we’ve created and how it could potentially benefit…well…everyone on Earth, to be frank with you.  If our offices were to arrange all the details for you to be here, from flights to accommodations and such, might you be interested in coming by for a personal tour of your own?  We’d certainly be honored to have such an esteemed & well-respected perspective such as yours take a look at what we’ve done, and if you’re feeling so inclined, perhaps you can share your thoughts with us on what you think about our research.  Goodness, I’ve talked a blue streak – does any of this interest you?  We’d be so truly grateful for you to come by, it would really mean the world to all of us.”

He paused for Madam President to voice her thoughts through the telephone line.  In her chair at her house, she wove the cord of her phone through her fingers playfully as she considered the doctor’s offer.  “What exactly is this about?” she asked.  “I can certainly sense your excitement, but what are we dealing with?  Are there more details you can spare that’ll explain what this breakthrough concerns?”

Almost surprised by the fact that he didn’t have a concise answer right there on the tip of his tongue, Dr. Samuel thought quickly for a second and gave her the best response he felt summed it up:  “The future.”  Smiling for a moment at the very thought of what he’d said and how both mysterious and accurate it was, he continued.  “I don’t want to give everything away here over the phone Madam President, as I’m quite confident that witnessing our research for yourself will be well worth the while in taking a trip over here to our offices in Poughkeepsie – but to sum it up as best I can right now for you, so that you have an idea of what it is we accomplished at IBM…we’ve basically taught a machine how to learn for itself.”

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, aka The First Lady, aka Madam President, audibly gasped on her end of the call.  Then she was silent for the next thirty seconds as she considered the information and her role in this scenario.  “I’ll have my assistant call you right back to arrange a flight in the next three weeks if that’s an acceptable timeframe.  I have some private matters to attend to here at home, but I’m very interested in what you’ve discovered, and I’ll be there the moment that I can be.  Does that work for you doctor?”

Dr. Samuel blushed at the thought of the fact that The First Lady had asked him for his permission, or thoughts, or opinion – he didn’t exactly know what to call it – his confirmation, on her upcoming plans to come by and meet him & his team in person.  “That would be fantastic Madam President.  We’re truly honored that you’d consider this at all and absolutely thrilled about you coming by to see our research.”

“I’ll be seeing you soon,” said The First Lady, who promptly hung up the phone immediately afterwards, leaving Dr. Samuel with a noiseless receiver left cradled in his hands long before he had the opportunity to say a proper goodbye.  He stared at it for a moment, like he couldn’t completely trust the information that had just poured out of it, but still hung it up where it belonged.  Fifteen minutes hadn’t even passed before one of Mrs. Roosevelt’s many assistants called back to confirm that she’d be taking a visit to the International Business Machine’s research center in New York nearly three weeks to the day, exactly as she promised.  Eleanor Roosevelt was a woman of her word, among many other things to many people.

She would arrive promptly at their headquarters on July 24^th, 1959, at noon.  It was not the fanciful type of arrival that one would typically associate with a political ambassador or name of Roosevelt’s stature, but rather a fairly normal showing up that practically caught everyone off guard.  While Dr. Samuel had the date circled in bright red on his calendar, it still didn’t seem entirely real until the moment he had first laid eyes on her.  Madam President did bring a modest group of associates with her that traveled along with her everywhere she went, but they were all in their own world making arrangements for future visits, providing a modicum of personal security for her, and opening doors in front of her as she walked.  Mrs. Roosevelt moved through the world as efficiently as the wind did, and with just as little resistance.  Today she had extra pep in her step because the concept of machines being able to learn had all kinds of implications for the future ahead.  Over the past three weeks, she’d done little to nothing else other than think about all the incredible possibilities that such a machine could accomplish – and even in the event that Dr. Samuel hadn’t delivered on what he had boldly mentioned in their conversation in arranging her visit, it was completely clear to Eleanor that this was the direction the world was going.  Whether this machine the doctor had spoken of could learn or not, there would be a machine that could learn one day, and if he hadn’t been able to create one yet, the time was coming very soon.  She could practically feel the electricity in the air at the IBM headquarters.  It was welcome.  Invigorating.  Energizing.  It had been a while since The First Lady had felt this tremendously excited.

If that was all that it was though, she might not even have come at all.  Rarely did Mrs. Roosevelt’s own personal feelings become part of the equation for what added up to her activities.  Sure it was nice when she felt aligned with a cause or felt a kinship with someone on her schedule, but it was never a necessary part of the deal for her.  While it’s true that she lived a life in glorious technicolor to anyone on the outside looking in, on the inside she saw everything in a very black & white way.  Using a simple measurement of what would or wouldn’t help humankind or the future ahead of us, it was this exact principle that guided her for as long as she could remember.  Even long before she had married Franklin, Eleanor looked at life through a highly progressive lens as a child, determined to help illuminate a path forward for everyone to follow.  Regarded as the brightest of lights throughout her youth straight into her days as an adult, she was continually beloved be her passion for making the world a better place.  Her excitement was a complete and total non-factor; all that mattered to her was built of much more noble intentions.  It was important to her that every tomorrow would always be even better than today.

To say Eleanor was in a full sprint by the time she made it through the last set of doors leading towards Dr. Samuel’s office would be an overstatement for sure, but it would be fair to say her heartrate was at an elevated level.  As she moved throughout the IBM headquarters, employees rose to their feet to pay their respects each time a new door was opened, and only sat back down to do their work once she had made her way to the next room in the chain.  Everyone, literally everyone, knew exactly who she was & what she meant to the country – and so on their feet they leapt, every time.  It wasn’t just the treatment she received here at IBM, but everywhere that Eleanor Roosevelt was kind enough to grace for the day.

As she came into view for Dr. Arthur Samuel for the very first time, he too sprang to his feet.  With a gleeful feeling like he was running into an old chum or long-time cohort in crime, he grinned from ear to ear as she made her way towards him with a dignified hand outstretched.  He waited for her to speak first, lest he inaccurately presume that he should be the one to begin.  “Dr. Samuel,” she said, staring right into the eyes behind the frame of his glasses, “how very nice it is to finally meet you in person.”

They shook hands as Dr. Samuel reciprocated his admiration.  “Please, call me Arthur, Madam President.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.”  He blushed as he met her, having such great respect for both The First Lady and her presidential husband from history’s past.  “I’m very excited for this opportunity to show you something so incredibly special.  Can I have you kindly follow me to our laboratory over here?”  He pointed towards yet another set of doors to the left, which likely held yet even more IBM employees that would instantly jump to their feet as Mrs. Roosevelt made her way through the room.  Even Arthur had to move at a brisker pace than he was used to in order to keep up with her as she moved through the building; it was as if Eleanor already knew exactly where she was going at all times.

As for the final doors they needed to go through, the strength of her associates would not be enough to pull them open on their own.  Dr. Samuel caught back up to her and produced his security laminate into a small scanner, which turned off a heavy magnet that held the entrance securely locked.  “Top secret stuff happening in here Madam President,” Arthur said with a grin as he pulled the handle and swung the door open wide for her to go through.  “If you please,” he said, holding it open and gesturing forward.  Two members of Mrs. Roosevelt’s security detail went in first, took a quick look around to find nothing but plain walls and machines whirring softly, and nodded back towards the group indicating it was safe for her to go in.  As Eleanor looked around, it was clear that the room itself was unremarkable in just about every way, but the machines on the inside of it were unlike anything she had ever seen.  Large box contraptions that had spinning discs, blinking lights, levers, tapes, buttons, and knobs as far as he eyes could travel.  The lighting itself was bleak and the inside of the room was practically colorless: unbeknownst to either of them at the time, their real-life experience in the present would one day make a perfect representation of what black and white photos would eventually show the future generations.

One machine in particular stood out for the most obvious of reasons.  It wasn’t the many switches and knobs that were spread out far and wide across its physical interface, but the fact that there was a small checkboard that hung clumsily halfway off the desk in front of the machine.  Ever the sharp eye for even the tiniest details, Eleanor moved across the room with the speed of her interest, and stood in front of the game board, considering its relevance.  Before Arthur even had the opportunity to offer her a chair, she looked at him directly and said, “You’ve taught this giant metal box how to play checkers, is that it?”

Arthur never once forgot whom he was speaking to, and respectfully suggested she take a take a seat by pushing one over to the area in front of the machine.  “That’s correct, Madam President.  Would you like to take a look at how it works?”  Dr. Samuel’s face lit up with an electric smile, like he was plugged into the wall himself somewhere.  Mrs. Roosevelt said nothing, but sat down quiet to give him her undivided attention.  The machine began to click and whir gently as he started it up.  He grabbed a small fabric bag from a shelf nearby and dropped its contents of red and black chips onto the board below.  Like a child that couldn’t contain a surprise, his smile was beaming from ear to ear.  “Would you like to play, Madam President?”  He had already correctly assumed the answer was yes, and proceeded to set up the board.

“So what do I do now?” she said as she held a black chip in her hand, imploring Arthur for his guidance.

“Whatever comes naturally to you from here, Madam President.  Play the game as you normally would.”

With each piece that she laid down, Dr. Samuel would input her move into his computer machine, and it would process the information to provide a move of its own in return.  While there was no doubt that the flow of the game moved in a clunky manner, Eleanor was far from stupid, and within about five moves between her and the computer back & forth, her face began to light up with a smile that could rival the hammock that was now resting comfortably between the cheeks of Dr. Samuel’s face.  “The potential,” she said as she grabbed another piece to slide it forward, “is absolutely staggering here.”  She leaned back in her chair for a moment, gazing off into the distance as Dr. Samuel input her latest move into his machine.  It was calculating remarkably complex information, from the amount of pieces left on the board, the amount of space in which to move them, the number of kings, the probability of winning, and it was doing this all at the same time.  Arthur described the algorithm as best he could to Eleanor as she absorbed his words from her own perspective, taking out the science at its core and drifting off into her thoughts about where a machine like this – what did he call it again – this IBM 704 computer, could take them in the future.  She continued to play checkers aggressively, and cleverly, as she thought about the implications of Dr. Samuel’s machine.  “I think…” she began, “…I think whether or not you realize it yet yourself, you might have just changed the course of the entire world, Arthur.”

It was the kind of comment that would have the majority of scientists beaming, but rather than induce another smile on Dr. Samuel’s face, it brought back the seriousness of the situation instead.  He thought hard about what she had said upon this first impression, and shook his head in agreement.  “It’s true,” he said, “we might have.  I’m not sure that we even know what the full extent of this machine’s implications are at this time, but we know they’re massive.  As it stands, it’s a very expensive gaming console, but I believe you’re already understanding how much more capable machine learning can be.”

She took another move forward with her black checkers, and lost another piece to the red side.  Eleanor was naturally competitive, and shocked she missed how her last move would put her whole game in jeopardy.  “Darn it,” she said while thinking about five or six moves ahead, “I think I just lost to your machine.”  Sure enough, in a short matter of time, she was both correct, and yet happy to lose under such extraordinary circumstances.  “How did it know so much about where to move on the board?”

“I assure you, Madam President, that you’re coming in here today towards the tail end of our testing phase.  If you’d been here at the start of our process, you’d have been able to beat the 704 hands down.  It has continuously retained the information from previous games and built a database that relays a filtered set of that same information back to the machine, allowing it to compile an actual strategy that is comprised of the best moves available.  In essence, it’s ‘thinking’ about how to go about playing the player that is in front of the machine by a unique process of elimination and future potential combined.”

“That’s astonishing,” she said as the machine captured the final black piece on the board.  “Fascinating.”

“Neat, right?” said Arthur as the joy returned to replace the seriousness that was trying to take over his face.  “This could become the first step to so many things.  The 704 is capable of processing a whole series of calculations that would take hours upon hours of any human’s time, and do it all within mere seconds.  The value on that alone could save us years of time in how we compute everything from the most basic tasks and functions we do daily, to the most complex and intricate things we do in science, math, architecture and so on.  Right now, I’m afraid the only limitations I can think of all revolve around the fact that I can’t think of everything a machine like this could go on to do…my imagination is simply not that good.  Once it’s available to the public though, its purpose will then take on a life of its own – the people will determine what it could be best used for in order to serve our needs.  Even in this form right now, if it was to only provide a virtual competitor to play games with, that could go a long, long way to not necessarily cure, but assuage or lessen the impact of loneliness that we all experience.  A machine could eventually become a companion of sorts, built to suit the specific needs of its owner.”

From the corner of Dr. Samuel’s eye, he could see the waves of thought sweep across Eleanor’s face, which ran the full range of her emotions.  “They will come from you, Arthur, be aware,” she said.  “What you’ve created here has such far reaching implications that it’s going to set off a technological arms race of sorts, and the government will definitely be more than interested in how they can adapt this machine into something that can do a whole lot more than play checkers with them, do you understand?”  He nodded, solemnly.  He had certainly spent a great deal of nights wracking his brain over the many places this invention could go, and it didn’t take him long before he realized that not every one of those places was necessarily good.  Like everything to do with the government, any discovery this significant would end up being scrutinized on how it could contribute to their war scenarios, both offensive and defensive.

“I understand,” he said, looking directly back into her eyes.  “I don’t know how to protect it at this point.  A secret as ground breaking as this is unfortunately tends not to stay a secret for long.”  He looked sad.

“I agree with you, doctor.  This is the toothpaste that cannot be put back into the tube now that it has been squeezed.  I am delighted that a good man like yourself has done the squeezing, and hopefully those that are in the know about your machine can help steer this incredible invention in the right direction, at least at first.”  Her smile was initially warm, but faded once again quickly as her mind clouded over with disaster scenarios of a newly possible future.  “Make no mistake though, they will come for you and your machine.  They will want this for themselves, and there will be little if anything that you will be able to do at that time to stop them.  All we can do is hope that over time, your IBM machine will go on to do more good than it will cause harm, but I do assume that it will go on to do both – and you should too.  You truly need to be prepared for your remarkable genius here to be perverted, manipulated, commercialized, and even weaponized against us all.  That’s what we’re really looking at with this computer that you’ve built and the full scale of implications it has for the future ahead of us.”

Dr. Arthur Samuel couldn’t help but smile once again despite the seriousness of everything Eleanor was describing to him.  Her mind worked as quickly and efficiently as it had been described to him by others, and it was nothing but a pure delight to receive her honest, unfiltered feedback.  “Once again, I agree,” he said.  “Would you like to play again, Madam President?” he asked politely to his distinguished guest.

She blushed slightly at the thought, and while it might have pleased her to try again, she decided against it.  “No, thank you,” she said.  “I know when I’ve been beaten, and I know where my energy is better spent.”  She let out a little bit of a laugh.  “I’m going to write about this event in my journal Dr. Samuel, and I’m certainly not going to forget you or what I’ve seen here anytime soon.  I implore you, if there is anything that I can do for you in the future, don’t hesitate to reach out…please.”  She got up to leave the room, and her entourage of security personnel and associates did the same.  “Thank you so much for your time today Arthur, and for showing me this amazing machine of yours.  I mean what I say – if there is anything that I can do to assist you in the future, you just make the call, and I will be there for you.”  And with that, she turned to leave, immediately surrounded on all flanks by her people, enveloped by a wall of human flesh in crisply pressed suits.  Arthur marveled at how larger-than-life Eleanor Roosevelt genuinely was, mouthed an unheard thank you to her in return as she departed, and sat back down at his machine.  “They will come for you.”  Her words would continue to echo on repeat in his mind for days.  Dr. Arthur Samuel closed his eyes and did the best he could to go outside his own scientific boundaries and attempted to conjure up anything he had yet to consider.  The thing about the art of invention, is that the vast majority of ideas are pursued with the purest intentions, but the evils of man would so often contort the extraordinary into malevolent, appealing to our most horrific instincts.  He had designed the IBM 704 out of good intentions, but what will happen when the bad stuff creeps in?  His mind was taxed.  He had, after all, just met one of his own modern day heroes in addition to presenting his machine to a member of the world outside of the scientific community for the first time.  He closed his eyes and put his head down on the desk beside the game board, and drifted off into sleep.