It is always interesting to me that strange happenings are consistantly blamed on some helpless, possibly non-existant creatures from another world. It seems that Argentina is having trouble with ‘X-files’ type phenomena. I will agree with the point that it is strange, but I am not too sure about the aliens part. No pictures, too bad.
Archive for June 20th, 2002
More on Technopoly Just arrived at the chapter about computer technology. Good example of what happens when those who don’t quite know how something works decide to rant against it. It is quite out dated, and so far his focus is on the use of biological terms in reference to computers. He thinks this is indicative of a view that computers can “think” and have some sort of life of their own. Most people today would laugh at such a thought. Postman is concerned about the shift of thought toward thinking of Man as machine, and Machine as man. There is a little truth to this, as there is a strong basis in current science that pushes the “Man is machine” idea. Examples would be the reduction of emotion to chemical reactions in the biological central processing unit we so affectionately call the “brain”, and social/psychological disorders be a result of a ‘malfunction’, or chemical inballance. I understand that there are problems caused by deficiencies of certain chemicals in the body, but to say that it is merely a deficiency or malfunction that causes such extreme behavior as schizophrenia, or any serious neurological disorder seems a bit simplistic. But Postmans claim that we are on our way to accepting computers as human is way off. Of all the tools that man has ever created, computers are the most problematic. Computers have made our lives harder and more complex. Certain aspects of life are easier or at least faster, like communication and commerce, but now we have the ability to keep all our most important information on easily damaged disks, that we cannot be entirely sure are private. We have created a whole industry, a great percentage of which is manned by people who learned technology on their own, or through certification programs. This experience and training is valued higher than a college degree by some companies, and others would rather have someone they can train themselves. What happened to education? How has knowledge in the use of one tool become more valuable than a strong foundation in humanities, art, math and science? Odd words from the mouth of one who only has experience under his belt. I am reconsidering this whole “maybe I don’t need college” thing.
Retorts