The author presents a centralized Earth society of the sixty-sixth century, in which children are educated by almost instantaneous direct computer/brain interface, a process known as taping.

George Platen is determined to be a Computer Programmer, a profession in demand, and he hopes to qualify for "export" to a top-flight Outworld.

Although not under physical guard, George stays in the House for a year, where the staff tolerates and even encourages his philosophical and intellectual ruminations as a way to pass the time.

Trev is excited about his opportunities but performs poorly on the Beeman spectrograph — his Taping was inadequate regarding the new device—and he is forced to take employment on a fourth-rate Outworld.

George impatiently demands, and Ingenescu obtains for him, an interview with a Novian, an Outworlder on Earth to purchase talent.

over Earth continually introducing very minor changes to the Tapes — such as the recent addition of the Beeman spectrograph for Metallurgists — necessitating the Outworlds to keep spending money to stay up to date.

George contends that people can learn in ways other than being Taped, such as by reading books and in discussion with those who already hold the desired knowledge.

Those people who have the urge and persistence to create, even though they have been told otherwise about their abilities, are sent there to support the advancement of science and civilization.

George's "keepers" in the Institute are revealed as sociologists, psychologists, historians, scientists, and other professionals who also demonstrated an innate capacity for original thought but not the stamina to keep fighting to express it.