# All the People explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by R. A. Lafferty.

## What happens

Anthony Trotz, a man who suddenly knows every person in the world, interviews a politician, a philosopher, and a priest to understand the limits of human knowledge and connection. He is confronted by Colonel Peter Cooper, who reveals that Anthony is not truly human but an artificial consciousness—an adjunct to a massive brain at a filter center designed to monitor the auras of all people. His purpose is to detect anomalies, such as the arrival of seven beings not born into the world, but Anthony realizes the aliens are actually other restricted persons like himself.

## Themes in this chapter

### Knowledge and Its Limits

Anthony explores the boundaries of human cognition, from the politician's practical limits to the philosopher's theoretical constraints and the priest's spiritual perspective.

### Identity and Self-Worth

Anthony's crisis of identity upon learning he is an artificial being, compounded by the cruelty of children and his own feelings of inadequacy.

### Human Connection and Isolation

Despite knowing everyone in the world, Anthony feels utterly alone and friendless, highlighting the paradox of universal knowledge without genuine connection.

## Character check-ins

### Anthony Trotz

Discovers he is an artificial consciousness, an adjunct to a giant brain, and knows every person in the world.

### Colonel Peter Cooper

Reveals the truth about Anthony's nature and the purpose of the filter center.

### Mike Delado

Politician interviewed by Anthony about how many people one can know.

### Gabriel Mindel

Philosopher who discusses the limits of the mind and the body's restriction on knowledge.

### Father Briton

Priest who speaks of knowing all people through confession and the beatific vision.

## Key lines

> How many people do you know, Mr. Delado?

Anthony asks the politician how many individuals he is acquainted with.

_Anthony begins his inquiry into the capacity of human knowledge._

> You are an adjunct to it, a runner for it, an appendage, inasmuch as you are anything at all.

Colonel Cooper tells Anthony that he is merely a peripheral component of the giant brain.

_Reveals Anthony's true nature as an artificial consciousness._

> The only emancipated man is the corporally dead man. And the dead man, if he attains the beatific vision, knows all other persons who have ever been since time began.

The priest explains that only after death can a person know everyone, through divine vision.

_Contrasts spiritual knowledge with Anthony's mechanical omniscience._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters/all-the-people
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_45_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters