Nasreddin on the Djinn of Algebra

A young man rushed to Nasreddin Hodja’s house, breathless and wide-eyed.

“Hodja, I have seen something extraordinary. A new kind of intelligence is coming into the world. Not from scholars, not from books, but conjured from algebra. This intelligence will be everywhere. Nothing will ever be the same.”

Nasreddin nodded slowly and sipped his chai.

“But Hodja, my friends won’t listen! I try to warn them, I try to explain, but they laugh at me. They don’t believe it. How do I make them understand?”

Nasreddin set down his cup.

“You say this thing will soon be everywhere?”

“Yes! Abundant. Unlimited. Like water from a spring.”

“Let me understand this,” said Nasreddin. “You say a great intelligence is spawning, almost like a djinn?”

“Greater than anything.”

“And yet you, a capable human, who has seen this, cannot convince a single friend?”

The young man blinked.

“Then you both are not so intelligent,” said Nasreddin, “or you are possessed by this. If this thing is truly as clever as you say, why doesn’t it do the convincing?”