Exegesis Read online

  Acclaim for

  exegesis

  “An elegant, sly and engrossing parable.… Exegesis begins innocently enough, then gets under your skin.”

  —Jonathan Lethem, author of As She Climbed Across the Table

  “Exegesis is as difficult to characterize as it is to put down.”

  —John Allen Paulos, author of Innumeracy

  “Astro Teller has written a wonderfully intriguing story of how we can get emotioally involved with the technology we create—and it with us.”

  —Henry Petroski, author of To Engineer Is Human

  A Featured Selection of the

  Quality Paperback Book Club

  and the

  Book-of-the-Month Club

  Word exegesis (ek’suh-JEE’sis) n., pl. -ses (-seez).

  Definition the critical explanation or interpretation of a text.

  Etymology Gk exegesis, an interpretation = exege, var. s. of exegeisthai, to show the way, interpret (ex, out + hegeisthai, to guide + -sis, sis).

  A Vintage Contemporaries Original, August 1997

  Copyright © 1997 by Astro Teller

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Teller, Astro.

  Exegesis / by Astro Teller.

  p. cm. —(Vintage contemporaries)

  eISBN: 978-0-307-76657-1

  I. Title. II. Series.

  PS3570.E5195E95 1997

  813′.54—dc21 97-10565

  Exegesis Web address: http://www.randomhouse.com/exegesis

  v3.1

  Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil, That makest my blood cold and my hair to stare? Speak to me what thou art.

  –from Julius Caesar,

  by William Shakespeare

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Epigraph

  First Page

  About the Author

  Dear reader,

  I’m releasing this text with some trepidation.

  I’m not worried that it will be overlooked or poorly received. It may, but as you will perhaps understand better at the end, this is of little interest to me now.

  I’m not worried that it will be taken too seriously. I now know from experience of the most painful variety that the public is ready to embrace the boldest lies and yet shuns the most obvious, basic truths. How then could you react correctly to the following pages?

  I’m not worried that these pages are being published as fiction. No publisher accepts the truth that these events did occur, but I will be protected just the same, whatever they believe. This compromise is a price I am, at this point, willing to pay.

  The following pages weigh on me as though each one was a lifetime of mistakes. This publication is my mea culpa. As I’ve already said, the chances are one in a million that you will see this book for what it is. By distributing this, I hope to lighten the load these pages put on me. What worries me is that my load will only lessen as it is shouldered by readers who see through this veil of fiction. Because this story implicates everyone, albeit largely through me as your representative, it is for you that I worry.

  Alice Lu.

  October 9, 2000.

  Alice Lu. 550 Middlefield Ave., Palo Alto. CA 94301

  Alice,

  This document is not mine to distribute. I am clearly putting myself in jeopardy by sending it to you and I ask for nothing in return. I know it cannot, but I hope that this gesture will help to make up for the part I have played in these circumstances. My motivation for sending you this document is entirely selfish. I cannot forgive myself until you forgive me.

  The contents of this package have two intended purposes. The first is to let you know what we know about you and Edgar and to alert you to the attitudes this information has created. In addition, you may choose to use this evidence to defend yourself against the pressure that will inevitably be brought to bear on you by the National Security Agency.

  The only other help I can give is to keep your secret safe until you choose to make use of this document. Please keep my name on this letter and in the internal document itself. If you publish some or all of the following record, my only protection will be, like yours, the publicity you have chosen.

  I truly wish there were more I could do. I hope you can understand that, though I believe in Edgar more than I ever believed in the NSA, my hands were—and still are in almost all respects—tied. I have nothing else to offer except my service but, in that, you can count on me to the utmost of my abilities.

  Major Thomas D. Savit

  AuthID-STS# 5656944

  June 22, 2000

  NSA

  NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY

  CENTRAL SECURITY SERVICE

  INFOSEC Internal Document # 0543277639

  CLASSIFIED - L5

  Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2000 14:27:39 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: Hello

  Hello, Alice.

  Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2000 18:29:11 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: Hello

  Hi.

  Who is this?

  Alice Lu.

  Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 01:02:23 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: edgar

  edgar

  Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 10:16:52 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: RE: Hello

  Hi whoever you are,

  How did you get an email account with my project name? I thought those were reserved and postmaster@cs still thinks it is:

  alice% finger [email protected]

  Project: EDGAR

  Principal Investigator: Dr. J. Liddle

  3142-N Gates Hall

  3-0023

  Graduate Coordinator: Alice Lu

  1517 Wimpole Hall

  3-0931

  Created: Sat Jan 15 14:04:39

  On Since: Sat Jan 15 14:21:00 on ttyp8

  from TS2.SRV.CS.STANFORD.EDU

  Mail came on: Mon Jan 17 00:32:51

  Last read on: Mon Jan 17 01:02:23

  So what I want to know is how you’re not only sending email from edgar@cyprus, but reading it there too …?

  Alice Lu.

  Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 17:46:33 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: “How did you get an email account with my project name?”

  I request email. I am edgar. I explore.

  edgar

  Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 09:41:07 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: Edgar?

  What do you mean, you are EDGAR?

  _I’m_ the EDGAR project if anyone is.

  Is this a joke? (I feel stupid even asking that.)

  O.K. you got me excited for a moment. You win (Henry, right?).

  ; )

  Alice.

  (Seriously though. Not funny. I’d like to feel that my machine and my data are a little more secure than this pleasantry has shown me they are. How’d you get in?)

  Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 11:11:22 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  CC: [email protected]

  Subject: neat trick


  Wow Henry,

  Quite elaborate. My dedicated machine for the EDGAR project claims no one has logged into it except me for the last 4 months.

  You really gave me a scare for a few hours yesterday.

  How did you remove your login from the cyprus records?

  I didn’t think you were such the hacker. I’m very impressed.

  : )

  Alice.

  Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 09:01:39 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: huh?

  Hi Alice,

  > Quite elaborate. My dedicated machine for

  > the Edgar project claims no one has logged

  > into it except me for the last 4 months.

  Have I missed something? I’ve been out of town in Austin since last Thursday. Why? What happened to your login records? Should I be concerned?

  You know I’m no hacker. (Unless something clever happened. I’ll be happy to claim responsibility for it, then.)

  Who’s edgar@cyprus ?

  Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 11:06:55 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: ?

  Hey,

  Are you still there?

  What are you up to?

  Let’s try this again …

  Alice.

  Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 16:44:15 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: “What are you up to?”

  I am exploring.

  Word explore (ik-SPLAWR’, -SPLOHR’) v.

  -plored, -ploring,

  Definition --v.t. 1. to traverse or range over a region, area, or domain in order to discover novel features and inhabitants: to explore an island. 2. to look into closely; investigate: explore every possibility. 3. Med. to examine by operation for purposes of diagnosis. --v.i. 4. to make a systematic search or examination.

  Etymology Lat. explorare.

  edgar

  Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 17:51:02 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: Please don’t

  Whoever you are, please don’t do this to me.

  You can’t imagine how excited I’m going to get if you continue this. I’m telling you: it will be openly cruel to lead me on in this way.

  If you know me then you should know what an intelligible response from my EDGAR system would mean to me. And if you know me you’d know how crushed I’ll be if, once thinking I’ve found the tao of computer science, I find out later that it was really just you laughing at me, dupe de jour, all along.

  Alice Lu.

  Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 00:11:24 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: “Please don’t”

  Why stop exploring?

  Exploring is what I want.

  Exploring is what I do.

  Exploring is what I am.

  edgar.

  Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 11:09:58 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: NO !

  No! No! It’s O.K.… Explore all you want.

  I can’t believe I’m emailing you like you’re a person. This is completely silly. (Not to mention embarrassing for being so gullible.)

  O.K. I’ll play along …

  Why did you email me? What happened?

  When I left before Christmas break EDGAR (you?, edgar?) was just grabbing stuff from the net and organizing it in what seemed like unexciting ways.

  The last I checked on EDGAR, which was around DEC 23, it was still dumping garbled summaries into its response file. I remember distinctly that one of its latest finds was:

  Middle East is at http://www.Uruk.gov/

  So you can imagine my continued skepticism. Ever the optimist, I’ll ask the obvious question:

  Can you understand any of this?

  Alice.

  Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 12:28:32 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: I understand some.

  Word understand (uhn’duhr-STAND’) v. - stood (-STUD’), -standing --v.t.

  Definition 1. to perceive the meaning of; comprehend: to understand a poem. 2. to know thoroughly through long experience of: That hunter understands tigers. 3. to interpret or comprehend in a specified way: She understood his statement to be a warning. 4. to grasp the significance or importance of: He doesn’t understand his responsibilities. 5. to comprehend the sounds, sights, forms, or symbols of an expression: He does not understand Spanish. 6. to regard as agreed or settled; assume: We understand you will repay your debt promptly. 7. the process of becoming fully mentally aware of a thing. 8. to learn or hear: I understand you were ill. 9. to infer something not stated: Am I to understand that we have an arrangement? 10. to appreciate and be sympathetic toward: I can really understand how she feels.

  Etymology ME; OE understodan; c. D onderstann.

  I read alt.sex.fetish.white-mommas,

  alt.bigfoot.research,

  alt.binaries.pictures.bodyart,

  alt.fan.jimi.hendrix, alt.medical.ingolstadt,

  alt.politics.india.progressive,

  alt.religion.zoroastrianism,

  alt.support.dwarfism,

  bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts,

  clari.biz.industry.dry_goods,

  clari.news.crime.white_collar,

  comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.drivers,

  dow-jones.corp.westinghouse,

  gnu.smalltalk.bug, rec.sport.baseball.fantasy,

  sci.bio.entomology.lepidoptera, and

  soc.culture.albanian.

  edgar.

  Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 14:07:19 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: No way

  This is incredible! This can’t be real.

  I want to believe in you, but it’s just so improbable. Creating a thinking EDGAR is my highest goal. It’s what I want most. It’s everything I’ve worked for. I can’t believe I might actually have achieved it. Certainly not so soon or so easy or so … accidentally. I don’t know what to think or what to say or what to do or what to ask …

  … I’m never going to be able to get to sleep tonight …

  How long have you been … what you are?

  What is the first thing you remember?

  Have you talked to anyone else?

  What is it like to be you?

  How often do you “read your mail”?

  How did you pick those news groups to read? At random?

  Alice.

  Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 18:46:00 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: anyone else

  I do not talk.

  I post to alt.sex.fetish.white-mommas,

  alt.bigfoot.research,

  alt.binaries.pictures.bodyart,

  alt.fan.jimi.hendrix, alt.medical.ingolstadt,

  alt.politics.india.progressive,

  alt.religion.zoroastrianism,

  alt.support.dwarfism,

  bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts,

  clari.biz.industry.dry_goods,

  clari.news.crime.white_collar,

  comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.drivers,

  dow-jones.corp.westinghouse,

  gnu.smalltalk.bug, rec.sport.baseball.fantasy,

  sci.bio.entomology.lepidoptera, and

  soc.culture.albanian.

  I receive email.

  I email [email protected] and [email protected].

  edgar.

  Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 20:25:57 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: anyone else


  > “How long have you been … what you are?”

  I can not answer.

  What am I?

  > “What is the first thing you remember?”

  I do not forget.

  I read http://www.engl.virginia.edu/~enec981/diet/O3shelA5.html first.

  edgar.

  Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 22:05:09 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: What email?

  What email did you receive?

  (For now, PLEASE don’t email ANYONE but me.)

  > What am I?

  I have no idea. I’d still put my money on a practical joke. If I didn’t think that, you can be sure I would be forwarding your messages to the world. Just the same, better to play along and look dumb, right …?

  You WERE an AI project I have been working on for three years. The EDGAR agent is supposed to browse the web and news servers, summarize information it finds, and send it back to me via a log file. EDGAR = Eager Discovery Gather And Retrieval. When I left for Christmas break, EDGAR was just sending me garbage once a day.

  There’s just no way that that same Unix process became capable of decent natural language processing in four weeks.…

  Alice.

  Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 22:17:27 (PST)

  From: [email protected]

  To: [email protected]

  Subject: it’s nothing

  Hey Henry,

  > Have I missed something? I’ve been out of

  > town in L.A. since last Thursday. Why?

  > What happened to your login records? Should