I remember the day I began "hearing voices". It was a rainy afternoon and I was correcting an essay by one of my best senior students. I thought she had made a wonderful job and I felt so proud of her: she reminded of me when I was her age, always passionate about my studies, always doing my best for myself, as well as to be appreciated by my teachers, especially those with whom I felt I shared a special connection. And I wondered if she might feel that special connection with me.
I startled when I heard her asking me if the voice she was hearing was mine. I did not feel like looking around me to search for the source of the voice, because I realized I had not heard it through my ears. It felt like a thought that did not belong to me, as if one of her thoughts was being processed by my brain. And we let our brains process each other's thoughts.
– It's me, yes! What's going on?
– Miss B! I am so glad to hear you! So glad you were thinking about me!
– How do you know I was thinking about you?
– Because otherwise you would have never reached me in the Neumann-net!
– What are you talking about?
– You are using a Von Neumann Link, aren't you?
– I am. How do you know that?
– Because we can share our thoughts! I am using one too! I do this every day with my two best friends. They are both using a Von Neumann Link too, of course!
– So, are you telling me that people using a Von Neumann Link can share their thoughts?!
– Yes, Miss B! But only when they think about each other: I was thinking about you just now, wondering if you had already read my essay.
– And I was thinking about you because I had just finished reading it.
– See? That is how it happens!
– What did you call this thing?
– People call it the Neumann-net!
YOU ARE READING
The Von Neumann Link
Science FictionThis story revolves around a science-fictional technology I humbly dedicate to the memory of John von Neumann. It is also a story about pandemics and the consequences of lockdowns on people's mental health.
