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The year before I was born, Isaac Asimov wrote a short story called “The Feeling of Power.” Less than a dozen pages, it’s one of those Asimov stories that he seemed capable of churning out indefinitely, a glimmer of an idea pulled out like taffy until it was just the right length.

It’s set in a futuristic society in which everyone carries a small computer in their pocket, if you can imagine. They use these (as I recall; it’s been years since I read it) to do the same sorts of things we use our smartphones for, including quick calculations.

In Asimov’s future, though, humans have...