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Entropy and the Fate of the Human Race

Throughout the story, humanity showcases an obsession with entropy—essentially, the inevitable decay and degradation of the human race and everything it knows. They fixate on whether entropy is reversible and therefore whether humanity and the universe are savable. Across billions of years of human existence, humanity repeatedly turns to Multivac and its successors in hopes of finding an answer to the conundrum of entropy's reversibility. The repetition of this question throughout time and space illustrates a fixation on human survival. As Adell and Lupov question what will happen to humanity once the Sun dies, as VJ-23X and MQ-17J contemplate the finite number of galaxies able to satisfy humanity's expansion, and as Zee Prime heartbreakingly begins building his own stars to replace the dying ones, what is truly being sought is a solution to mankind’s mortality. The obsession with entropy demonstrates a desperate attempt to defy the laws of the universe and preserve the human race. Evidently, it is within human nature to fear death and prioritize survival. Through the ages, humans across the universe fear the time when humanity will cease to exist and subsequently come up with temporary ways to preserve human life. Whether it's finding a new energy source to fuel expansion, moving to a new planet, creating new stars for energy, or inventing a technological way to immortalize human lives by eliminating corporeal bodies, humanity refuses to accept its mortality, and continues its desperate search for a way to reverse entropy. All of these endeavors are ways of prolonging the inevitable: entropy's inescapable triumph over humanity and the universe. 

The Progression of Technology

The story's progression is mirrored by technology's continual evolution and advancement. As the reader travels through various phases of human existence that span billions of years, technology constantly dates itself. The scientific and technological discoveries that seem cutting-edge in one era are quickly overshadowed and viewed as outdated as technology continues to evolve. For example, Multivac is seen as novelty in the opening scene but unremarkable the next. When it is first invented, it is a vast machine, spanning many miles, and is the only one of its kind. In the following scene, in which the reader encounters Jerrodd and Jerrodine, Multivac has morphed into Microvac. As opposed to Multivac, a one-of-a-kind marvel for the entire human race, families now own their own personal Microvac which, unlike Multivac, is small enough to be brought aboard a space vessel. By the next scene, Microvac has transformed into the Galactic AC, a highly sophisticated device that has literally found a way to prevent old age and death. The Galactic AC is then similarly dethroned by its successors and eventually culminates in its final version, AC. The progression from Multivac to AC symbolizes the evolution of technology and demonstrates that its achievements are merely fleeting triumphs in the endless search for humanity's next technological breakthrough. 

The Pursuit of Knowledge

As the reader observes various phases of humanity across billions of years of human existence, one idiosyncrasy of the human race that remains a constant is the ceaseless pursuit of knowledge. Through the ages, humans demonstrate an innate desire to understand the universe and overcome the natural barriers that restrict and confine humanity's existence. The thirst for knowledge drives humanity forward and fuels its expansion and technological advancements. Through each era, humanity fixates on learning more. Humanity, then, is perhaps defined by its curiosity. Instead of celebrating Multivac's triumph of finding a way to harness solar power, Adell and Lupov focus on what will happen when the Sun dies and whether or not another star could take its place. Zee Prime is interested to learn more about the galaxy where life originated and the original Sun that made life possible. And of course, humans across time present various iterations of the last question: "Can entropy ever be reversed?" No matter how much humanity has learned, we always fixate on what we still don't know. Even AC, which comes to encompass the collective human consciousness, is desperate to solve the unanswerable question. It persists in constant pursuit of a solution long after humanity and the universe have ceased to exist. Knowledge is evidently an all-powerful force that drives our existence.

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