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تیر خلاص
ده داستان کوتاه از امبروز بیرس, نویسنده آمریکایی
159 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1893
About the author
Ambrose Bierce
2,434 books1,362 followersdied perhaps 1914
Caustic wit and a strong sense of horror mark works, including In the Midst of Life (1891-1892) and The Devil's Dictionary (1906), of American writer Ambrose Gwinett Bierce.
People today best know this editorialist, journalist, and fabulist for his short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and his lexicon.
The informative sardonic view of human nature alongside his vehemence as a critic with his motto, "nothing matters," earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce."
People knew Bierce despite his reputation as a searing critic, however, to encourage younger poet George Sterling and fiction author W.C. Morrow.
Bierce employed a distinctive style especially in his stories. This style often embraces an abrupt beginning, dark imagery, vague references to time, limited descriptions, the theme of war, and impossible events.
Bierce disappeared in December 1913 at the age of 71 years. People think that he traveled to Mexico to gain a firsthand perspective on ongoing revolution of that country.
Theories abound on a mystery, ultimate fate of Bierce. He in one of his final letters stated: "Good-bye. If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags, please know that I think it is a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico--ah, that is euthanasia!"
Caustic wit and a strong sense of horror mark works, including In the Midst of Life (1891-1892) and The Devil's Dictionary (1906), of American writer Ambrose Gwinett Bierce.
People today best know this editorialist, journalist, and fabulist for his short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and his lexicon.
The informative sardonic view of human nature alongside his vehemence as a critic with his motto, "nothing matters," earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce."
People knew Bierce despite his reputation as a searing critic, however, to encourage younger poet George Sterling and fiction author W.C. Morrow.
Bierce employed a distinctive style especially in his stories. This style often embraces an abrupt beginning, dark imagery, vague references to time, limited descriptions, the theme of war, and impossible events.
Bierce disappeared in December 1913 at the age of 71 years. People think that he traveled to Mexico to gain a firsthand perspective on ongoing revolution of that country.
Theories abound on a mystery, ultimate fate of Bierce. He in one of his final letters stated: "Good-bye. If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags, please know that I think it is a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico--ah, that is euthanasia!"
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
March 28, 2016
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03zmdqwDescription: Can a machine think? And if so, could it be prone to violence like humans? A pioneering story first published in 1893, read by Robert Lang.
January 21, 2017
This was a very strange tale. I can see why Bierce was a big inspiration for H.P. Lovecraft.
September 23, 2026
اگه یه روز هوش مصنوعی
به جایی برسه که حتی سازنده اش هم نتونه رفتار بعدیش رو پیش بینی کنه،
بازم میتونیم بگیم کاملا تحت کنترل ماست؟
داشتم یه الگوریتم در زمینه بهینه سازی رو گسترش میدادم که این سوال حسابی ذهنم رو درگیر کرد و باعث شد برم سراغ داستان «استاد موکسون»، داستانی از Ambrose Bierce که سال ۱۸۹۹ منتشر شده.
داستان درباره مخترعی به اسم موکسونه که یه ماشین شطرنج باز میسازه و اعتقاد داره شاید ماشین هم بتونه فکر کنه. ماجرا از جایی عجیب میشه که موکسون با ساخته خودش شطرنج بازی میکنه و کیش و ماتش میکنه، اما ماشین واکنشی نشون میده که اصلا از یه دستگاه معمولی انتظارش رو نداریم.
چند لحظه بعد، چیزی که قرار بوده ساخته دست انسان و تحت کنترلش باشه، علیه سازنده خودش برمیگرده.
ولی چیزی که برای من جذاب بود، خود این اتفاق نبود، سوالی بود که پشت ماجراست: آیا ماشین فقط چیزی رو اجرا میکنه که براش ساخته شده، یا ممکنه یه روز رفتاری از خودش نشون بده که حتی خالقش هم نتونه پیش بینیش کنه؟
موکسون یه جمله عجیب هم داره:
«آگاهی مخلوق ریتم است.» یعنی شاید آگاهی فقط مخصوص مغز انسان نباشه و از نظم، حرکت و الگوهای پیچیده شکل بگیره.
نویسنده آخر داستان هم جواب مشخصی بهمون نمیده، معلوم نیست ماشین واقعا آگاه شده، از شکست عصبانی شده یا فقط یه نقص مکانیکی باعث همه این اتفاق ها شده. شاید همین ابهامه که باعث میشه داستانی که بیشتر از یه قرن پیش نوشته شده، امروز اینقدر به بحث هوش مصنوعی نزدیک به نظر برسه.
داستان رو دوست داشتم
نه از نظر ادبی، بیشتر به خاطر مفهومی که پشتش بود، فکر میکنم Ambrose Bierce تحت تاثیر فضای مکانیکی شدن قرن نوزدهم و احتمالا داستان ها و شهرت «The Mechanical Turk»، شطرنج باز مکانیکی معروف اون دوران، این ایده رو ساخته، ماشینی که قرار بوده فقط بازی کنه، اما توی داستان تبدیل میشه به چیزی که دیگه معلوم نیست ابزار انسانه یا رقیبش.
به جایی برسه که حتی سازنده اش هم نتونه رفتار بعدیش رو پیش بینی کنه،
بازم میتونیم بگیم کاملا تحت کنترل ماست؟
داشتم یه الگوریتم در زمینه بهینه سازی رو گسترش میدادم که این سوال حسابی ذهنم رو درگیر کرد و باعث شد برم سراغ داستان «استاد موکسون»، داستانی از Ambrose Bierce که سال ۱۸۹۹ منتشر شده.
داستان درباره مخترعی به اسم موکسونه که یه ماشین شطرنج باز میسازه و اعتقاد داره شاید ماشین هم بتونه فکر کنه. ماجرا از جایی عجیب میشه که موکسون با ساخته خودش شطرنج بازی میکنه و کیش و ماتش میکنه، اما ماشین واکنشی نشون میده که اصلا از یه دستگاه معمولی انتظارش رو نداریم.
چند لحظه بعد، چیزی که قرار بوده ساخته دست انسان و تحت کنترلش باشه، علیه سازنده خودش برمیگرده.
ولی چیزی که برای من جذاب بود، خود این اتفاق نبود، سوالی بود که پشت ماجراست: آیا ماشین فقط چیزی رو اجرا میکنه که براش ساخته شده، یا ممکنه یه روز رفتاری از خودش نشون بده که حتی خالقش هم نتونه پیش بینیش کنه؟
موکسون یه جمله عجیب هم داره:
«آگاهی مخلوق ریتم است.» یعنی شاید آگاهی فقط مخصوص مغز انسان نباشه و از نظم، حرکت و الگوهای پیچیده شکل بگیره.
نویسنده آخر داستان هم جواب مشخصی بهمون نمیده، معلوم نیست ماشین واقعا آگاه شده، از شکست عصبانی شده یا فقط یه نقص مکانیکی باعث همه این اتفاق ها شده. شاید همین ابهامه که باعث میشه داستانی که بیشتر از یه قرن پیش نوشته شده، امروز اینقدر به بحث هوش مصنوعی نزدیک به نظر برسه.
داستان رو دوست داشتم
نه از نظر ادبی، بیشتر به خاطر مفهومی که پشتش بود، فکر میکنم Ambrose Bierce تحت تاثیر فضای مکانیکی شدن قرن نوزدهم و احتمالا داستان ها و شهرت «The Mechanical Turk»، شطرنج باز مکانیکی معروف اون دوران، این ایده رو ساخته، ماشینی که قرار بوده فقط بازی کنه، اما توی داستان تبدیل میشه به چیزی که دیگه معلوم نیست ابزار انسانه یا رقیبش.
May 1, 2019
This was a pretty good horror scifi short story about a madman of science named Moxon who is obessessed on the question "Can machines think?" That he creates one in his workshop. Will his creation cause his downfall? Read this for yourself and find out.
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-sto...
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-sto...
February 14, 2022
As a new chess enthusiast I had to read this story, especially since nowadays there is much talk about the way in which AI is changing the game. This is a nicely written gothic novel about a men who invents a sort of chess AI that ends up killing him much in the same vein as Golems used to go awry and kill their masters. Apparently it was inspired by Poe's essay about the Mechanical Turk, a chess automaton scam which had taken 18th century nobility by surprise. However, the story is much more interesting if you read it knowing what sort of reception it received at the time of the publication. Since Bierce did not mention anything about who was Moxon's master, there have been numerous theories about who this could be. Two of them I found very entertaining. One reviewer attempted to demonstrate that the automaton was handled by Moxon's mistress who became enraged when she discovered that Moxon had let his young friend enter his lab. Another reviewer went a bit further and argued that Moxon was in fact having a homosexual affair with the helper and that the helper became jealous of the young friend and murdered Moxon. I think that if you read the story thinking about this you will enjoy it much more.
December 3, 2015
In Moxon's Master, Ambrose Bierce takes his readers down a similar route as Shelley's Frankenstein. The ending, as usual, had a violent, shocking climax, but the part I liked most in this story was the discussion between Moxon and the protagonist about the possibilities of brainless matter still possessing some form of intelligence and awareness of its surroundings.
July 20, 2018
The concept feels like an early prototype of Harlan Ellison’s I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. The concept of machines gaining human intelligence, and machines developing violent or vengeful tendencies against their creators.
January 22, 2024
4/5
the use of the technological innovation (automated chess-player) as an infernal machine followed the classic conflict of man vs. machine.
the AI, imbued with irrational emotion and desire for independence from its domineering (and chess-winning) creator, makes a conscious decision to destroy its inventor.
while this narrative has been done before, its thought-provoking philosophies and concepts of sentience/consciousness, rational thought, instinct, and phenomenon of life was well-written through its debate between a believer and non-believer.
the use of the technological innovation (automated chess-player) as an infernal machine followed the classic conflict of man vs. machine.
the AI, imbued with irrational emotion and desire for independence from its domineering (and chess-winning) creator, makes a conscious decision to destroy its inventor.
while this narrative has been done before, its thought-provoking philosophies and concepts of sentience/consciousness, rational thought, instinct, and phenomenon of life was well-written through its debate between a believer and non-believer.
April 5, 2016
From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
Can a machine think? And if so, could it be prone to violence like humans? A pioneering story first published in 1893, read by Robert Lang.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03zmdqw
Can a machine think? And if so, could it be prone to violence like humans? A pioneering story first published in 1893, read by Robert Lang.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03zmdqw
November 29, 2017
A debate about the nature and degree of intelligence which a machine can possess, leads to an automaton to strangle a man to death over a game of chess.
January 27, 2025
4/5 estrellas.
Fue cortito pero directo a lo suyo. Hipnotizaba esa partida de ajedrez.
Me llamó la atención que, para ser un relato futurista, los robots y máquinas estuvieran hechos de madera, aunque fue publicado por primera vez en 1893.
Nuevamente Ambrose Bierce me atrapa con un relato.
Lo recomiendo.
Fue cortito pero directo a lo suyo. Hipnotizaba esa partida de ajedrez.
Me llamó la atención que, para ser un relato futurista, los robots y máquinas estuvieran hechos de madera, aunque fue publicado por primera vez en 1893.
Nuevamente Ambrose Bierce me atrapa con un relato.
Lo recomiendo.
September 18, 2024
This just immediately became one of my favorite short stories! Anything that deals with the consciousness of machines is my thing, and this is light years ahead of its time. Unwittingly so in some ways. Excellent!
November 16, 2020
3.5 An early sci-fi story. Can a machine, an automaton, think for itself? Is Bierce the first author to write about AI? An intriguing idea from a master storyteller. Audible edition narrated by Anthony Heald. This can be found in Can Such Things Be?
March 16, 2025
This story features a chess-playing automaton, which may allude to an actual fraudulent chess-playing machine constructed in 1770. Bierce briefly broaches the topic of intelligence in inanimate objects, suggesting that mind is inherent in the universe. I found this first part of the short story relevant to the recent explosion in AI and especially AlphaGo, as Mozon, the inventor, was testing whether machines could beat humans in games like chess.
Unfortunately the story devolved into a somewhat silly plot though not without touching on the subject of whether or not automatons can feel emotion. Again relevant as we question AGI and sentience.
Unfortunately the story devolved into a somewhat silly plot though not without touching on the subject of whether or not automatons can feel emotion. Again relevant as we question AGI and sentience.
January 24, 2025
"When soldiers form lines, or hollow squares, you call it reason. When wild geese in flight take the form of a letter V you say instinct. When the homogeneous atoms of a mineral, moving freely in solution, arrange themselves into shapes mathematically perfect, or particles of frozen moisture into the symmetrical and beautiful forms of snowflakes, you have nothing to say. You have not even invented a name to conceal your heroic unreason."
"Consciousness is the creature of Rhythm. (...) If consciousness is the product of rhythm all things are conscious, for all have motion, and all motion is rhythmic."
"Consciousness is the creature of Rhythm. (...) If consciousness is the product of rhythm all things are conscious, for all have motion, and all motion is rhythmic."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2025
It is really amazing how much ahead of its time this story is. Ambrose Bierce really contemplated something extraordinary in 1899. Over a hundred years later we are still pondering this same idea of the the intelligence of stationary objects, plants and machines - most of all machines. With artificial intelligence being what it is today, Biercce truly was ahead of his time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2021
A philosophic discussion with an inventor about the nature of humanity and intelligence leads to a late-night encounter with a violent chess game. Considering this was written in 1893 or something, it's pretty cool.
May 26, 2024
“But in my spiritual exaltation, discretion and civility were alike forgotten, and I opened the door.”
Read at: http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-sto...
Read at: http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-sto...
April 23, 2026
So I'll give this 4 stars just because I have a Thing for Automatons. And this story is a lot of fun......when it finally gets going.
The first 2/3's of the story is a Stream of "......now, let me explain...." Interesting stuff but it wouldn't fly in a story of this type today. Than again, maybe I'm just so familiar with the discussion in this Year of Our Common Era 2026, that I regarded all the talking as a little bit redundant.
It's not really a Sci-Fi story though, it's more in the Tradition of the Frankenstein Genre, replete with the typical Tropes of Horror from sudden Flashes of Lightening to a an Automaton that's more Beast-like than Android looking.
But some typical Classic Golden Sci-Fi Pulp cliches do make their first [?] appearances. Moxon and his Automaton are challenging each other to a Game of Chess. And the Violence that happens between Moxon and the Automaton happens because the Automaton is Pissed Off that It's Creator proves himself to be Smarter than His Creation. And the Automaton decides, it's Time for God to Die.
Recommended reading.
The first 2/3's of the story is a Stream of "......now, let me explain...." Interesting stuff but it wouldn't fly in a story of this type today. Than again, maybe I'm just so familiar with the discussion in this Year of Our Common Era 2026, that I regarded all the talking as a little bit redundant.
It's not really a Sci-Fi story though, it's more in the Tradition of the Frankenstein Genre, replete with the typical Tropes of Horror from sudden Flashes of Lightening to a an Automaton that's more Beast-like than Android looking.
But some typical Classic Golden Sci-Fi Pulp cliches do make their first [?] appearances. Moxon and his Automaton are challenging each other to a Game of Chess. And the Violence that happens between Moxon and the Automaton happens because the Automaton is Pissed Off that It's Creator proves himself to be Smarter than His Creation. And the Automaton decides, it's Time for God to Die.
Recommended reading.
June 30, 2026
[DSB Audio] (2017). AB. 23:51.
Originally published in the “San Francisco Examiner” (16/04/1899).
‘Thinking Machines’ - a brief exploration of related potential, inclusive danger, and matters ethical.
Prescient, indeed, 50+ years in advance of A.I.’s genesis.
Originally published in the “San Francisco Examiner” (16/04/1899).
‘Thinking Machines’ - a brief exploration of related potential, inclusive danger, and matters ethical.
Prescient, indeed, 50+ years in advance of A.I.’s genesis.
November 16, 2019
Reviewed this in a collected edition here: http://www.skjam.com/2019/11/16/book-...
Read
December 19, 2020read for school, spring 2019
April 27, 2021
Are you as smart as a snowflake? ❄
October 25, 2021
The audacity of the cliffhanger is extremely upsetting to me.
May 5, 2025
robot cobra conciencia propia y male sal🗿
August 24, 2025
strange tale by a master.
February 11, 2026
The latter half of this short story is much better than the first. I found for such a short story that the monologue was a bit much. I listened to this via the Forgotten Sci-fi podcast on spotify.
February 12, 2026
This was a very interesting short story that not only discusses abiogenesis, but the nature of sin with the typical campfire ghost story Ambrose Bierce is so famous for writing.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews