I’ve wandered off into writing about computers. What a life changing device the digital computer has become. My initial interest is in electronics. I also love the power in math and numbers. I admit I have never become a total master of either but that has never been my intention. I do have a very good understanding of both and that is what I consider important to me.
The digital computer is a tool. It is built by the hand of humans, a human invention, to accomplish a simple mathematical task that a planet full of humans can not do in a lifetime. It is a time compression machine. At its most basic core it detects two things, on and off. Represented in binary math with two symbols, a 1 and a 0 (zero). It does this so fast, it compresses the time humans would need to think and react to these on/off states to nearly nothing.
The simple logical decisions that can be made from detecting an on or off condition is primitive. Yet because this most basic logic is done so extremely fast, it is now used to run (and some say rule) the modern world. Is this Progress? Yes, it is a progression the human creature has taken in the quest of knowledge and power.
OK, back to planet earth.
I use this power to run a milling machine with an accuracy and speed and combination of moves that no human operator could ever maintain. Did this machine “think” of doing this all on its own? The answer is no. It is a tool. It was programmed by humans at many levels to provide the end result. People designed parts of this “tool” with no idea how all these parts would come together.
What a great way for me to think about how the human species has become dependant the works of others. We are always learning and building upon what has been done before, thus increasing our own knowledge and abilities.
There was a great educational program made by the BBC that took examples of events and creations in the distant past and illustrated how they influenced various events and inventions up to the present day. It was called “Connections”.
Probably a program only something a self confessed nerd like me would enjoy!