All sorts of computer errors are now turning up. You'd be surprised to know the number of doctors who claim they are treating pregnant men.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the absurdity of computer errors and misconceptions in modern society, particularly in the context of medicine.
Isaac Asimov's quote humorously addresses the confusion and errors that technological advancements can bring, especially in fields like medicine. It suggests that as computers and technology become more integrated into our lives, they can sometimes produce results that challenge our understanding of reality, leading to ridiculous conclusions such as doctors treating pregnant men—a concept that is biologically impossible for cisgender men. Asimov uses this absurdity to critique the reliance on technology and the potential consequences of misinformation.
In practice
Using this quote in a presentation on technology's impacts in healthcare.
Democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive it. Convenience and decency cannot survive it. As you put more and more people into the world, the value of life not only declines, but it disappears. It doesn't matter if someone dies.
Science does not promise absolute truth, nor does it consider that such a thing necessarily exists. Science does not even promise that everything in the Universe is amenable to the scientific process.
Democracy cannot survive overpopulation.
Although the time of death is approaching me, I am not afraid of dying and going to Hell or (what would be considerably worse) going to the popularized version of Heaven. I expect death to be nothingness and, for removing me from all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism.
A subtle thought that is in error may yet give rise to fruitful inquiry that can establish truths of great value.
During the century after Newton, it was still possible for a man of unusual attainments to master all fields of scientific knowledge. But by 1800, this had become entirely impracticable.
The slow rejection of the foreign skin grafts fascinated me. How could the host distinguish another person's skin from his own?
Inside of a living cell there are thousands of proteins that enable it to make more of itself and make your malaria drug, for instance. We don't understand those. We don't understand how they work together.
Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated.
All illnesses have some heredity contribution. It's been said that genetics loads the gun and environment pulls the trigger.
The further a mathematical theory is developed, the more harmoniously and uniformly does its construction proceed, and unsuspected relations are disclosed between hitherto separated branches of the science.
I sometimes try to imagine what would have happened if we’d known the bonobo first and the chimpanzee only later—or not at all. The discussion about human evolution might not revolve as much around violence, warfare and male dominance, but rather around sexuality, empathy, caring and cooperation. What a different intellectual landscape we would occupy!
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