ek of study on it,
he called Paul with an excitement he could not suppress in his voice.

"It looks like you owe that dinner," he said. "We've got what we were
looking for!"

"What are you talking about?" Paul demanded.

"We've got proof that a human being is nothing more nor less than a
simple cybernetic gadget. It's a laugh--people trying to build a
mechanical man all these years. That's the only kind there is!"

"You still aren't making sense."

"Come on over and see for yourself."

Puzzled and irritated, Paul left his office and went down to the
analyzer laboratory. There he found Holt and his staff in a buzz of
excitement.

The multiple recorder sheets were laid out on long tables, being studied
intensely. Paul followed Holt to one series that was separated from the
rest.

"We didn't know we had anything at first," said Holt. "The pulse was so
low in amplitude that it was hard to pick out of the noise, but the
analyzer showed it was consistently present under certain conditions of
the subject."

"What conditions?" said Paul.

"At the exact moment of committing an error! I should say it occurs
between the moment of making the decision to carry out an erroneous act
and the triggering of the motor impulse that executes it."

Paul frowned. "How can you be sure it doesn't occur at any other time as
well?"

"Because we've run every set of charts through the analyzer and this
particular impulse comes out no other place."

"It looks very interesting," Paul said. "But why did you say you've got
proof that a human being is nothing but a cybernetic gadget? I don't see
what this has got to do with it."

"I didn't give you quite all the story," Holt said smugly. "I should
have said that the pulse occurred every time there was an _intent_ to
perform an error. Sometimes that intent was not carried out."

"I don't understand."

"That pulse is nothing more nor less than a feedback pulse indicating
that an action matrix has been set up which is in non-conformity with
the previously chosen pattern of learning or intent. It's a feedback
alarm carrying the information that an error will result if the proposed
action is carried out. When the feedback is successfully returned to the
action matrix a change is made until there is no feedback and a correct
action is taken. When the feedback is blocked or ignored, an error
results. It's as simple as that! Your complex human being is nothing but
a fairly elaborate cybern