Writer's Block: Not So Genius
"I will argue that in the literal sense the programmed computer understands what the car and the adding machine understand, namely, exactly nothing. " -Searle
Computers, calculators, the items that make us stupider while simultaneously making us smarter, are the ones I think we would be better off without. They can't think, not with intentionality, like humans think, and yet they do all of our thinking for us. Now, we are at a point where there is little the human mind can perform on its own, without the aid of a computer or calculator. And here I sit, typing this on my own computer, which seems to have integrated itself into my life so seamlessly that friendships and contact with other people has become nothing more than bits and an LCD screen - fragmented and distant. It's not the computers or the technology that are intrinsically "bad" it's our reliance on it. Going to the moon, building fuel efficient cars, performing complex math tasks, all would be nearly impossible without today's technology; however, our generation is so reliant on computers that without them, could we still do long division with large numbers? Technology moves so swiftly and we're swept up in the current; how do we stay human, down to earth human, in a world that is so digitized? For me, it's dance and painting that keep me human, but I still feel that my mind is lazy as a result of the technologically focused world in which we live.
If you haven't already, read 'Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age' by Bill McKibben. Fascinating.
Computers, calculators, the items that make us stupider while simultaneously making us smarter, are the ones I think we would be better off without. They can't think, not with intentionality, like humans think, and yet they do all of our thinking for us. Now, we are at a point where there is little the human mind can perform on its own, without the aid of a computer or calculator. And here I sit, typing this on my own computer, which seems to have integrated itself into my life so seamlessly that friendships and contact with other people has become nothing more than bits and an LCD screen - fragmented and distant. It's not the computers or the technology that are intrinsically "bad" it's our reliance on it. Going to the moon, building fuel efficient cars, performing complex math tasks, all would be nearly impossible without today's technology; however, our generation is so reliant on computers that without them, could we still do long division with large numbers? Technology moves so swiftly and we're swept up in the current; how do we stay human, down to earth human, in a world that is so digitized? For me, it's dance and painting that keep me human, but I still feel that my mind is lazy as a result of the technologically focused world in which we live.
If you haven't already, read 'Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age' by Bill McKibben. Fascinating.