Tag Archives: Humans

Relationship of humans and Technology

Posted on January 22, 2013 by | Comments Off on Relationship of humans and Technology

@KatieGullans

The famous image from the film, The Matrix, and the video clip that experiments with recreating the “raining code” concept from the film relates to humans because humans had to create it. Technological things are made to make things easier for humans as the world becomes more complicated and advanced. For example, in the memex, it shows a person taking notes on one screen, then reference material comes up on the other one. The people in the image with all the coding, show they are the one behind making this technology.

In a way, I think the image relates to showing that it’s not just math and numbers. There are people in the picture too. In “As We May Think,” Vannevar Bush explains that “If scientific reasoning were limited to the logical processes of arithmetic, we should not get far in our understanding of the physical world.”(42) Humans have a whole mind to put into new inventions. To invent something, they have to know how the human works to make it actually useful. The game of poker can’t be based entirely on the use of the mathematics of probability. There may be some logical in trying to read what other people might be thinking.

People have different approaches to looking at technology too. The physician, the chemist, and the historian all bring in something different. Information is passed on to newer generations and more things are made. I think the raining code seems like unlimited information already here and more of it to come. But the human mind will think of it, create it, and invent it. Machines are nothing without the human behind them. If humans were to vanish from the earth one day, machines would rot eventually and not be of any use anymore.

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Humans&Computers

Posted on January 22, 2013 by | Comments Off on Humans&Computers

@ohheyitshonor

“A record, if it is to be useful to science, must be continuously extended, it must be stored, and above all it must be consulted.”  Vannevar Bush, author of  “As We May Think,” states at the beginning of chapter two. The Matrix, a film released in 1999, full represents what Bush is alluding  in his work. The film was released at the turn of the century, when Digital Media was first taking it’s hold on society. Not only were computers a relatively new technology for the average person, but they also represented the vast amount of knowledge that we as humans could never hope to retain and understand. This is the reason computers have integrated into many people’s lifestyles so well.

When particularly examining the Matrix “Dream Sequence” Bush’s idea of continuously extended and stored data shines through. The scene displays of a stream of seemingly random letters falling from the computer screen, as if the information stored was pouring out. This visually represents what humans seek to find in technologies like computers, an infinante ‘fountain’ of knowledge. computers today hold all sorts of knowledge of human’s lives, ranging from casual conversations, to a business’ finances. Humans rely on computers more and more not only to store their information, but to feed it back to them and analyze is for them, as Bush explains as the most important aspect of the digital age.

Overall, it is important to understand the way in which Bush explains humans rely on the lifeless brain of the computer.

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The Human and Computer Connection

Posted on January 22, 2013 by | Comments Off on The Human and Computer Connection

When did the Connection of Human and Computer Start?

I am sure everyone has seen The Matrix and understands that the falling code IS the digital world that was created by the computers for humans to live in. The changing symbols, letters and numbers represent the constant change in the Matrix. I was not sure how I could make this connection with Vannevar Bush’s “As We May Think” until I watched the video showing his Memex. In section 7 he states:

Moreover, when numerous items have been thus joined together to form a trail, they can be reviewed in turn, rapidly or slowly…

If you think about it, this can be an early rendition of the raining code, as each ‘drop’ creates its own trail. His Memex also creates a unique code of letters and numbers to identify each trail, like in the raining code. The only thing missing is the non-alphanumeric symbols, though one cannot help but think if the Memex was able to be used on a large scale that symbols would be introduced. He goes on in the same paragraph and says:

It is exactly as though the physical items had been gathered together from widely separated sources and bound together to form a new book. It is more than this, for any item can be joined in to numerous trails.

When you look at the still photo of the three people immersed in the Matrix you can see that their ‘trails’ have been joined creating a new ‘book’ or reality. As well with the Memex, once Neo our protagonist, masters the Matrix he is able to call up and change anything he wishes, so does one with the Memex. The user can call up information, add to it, change it, share it and then save it or destroy it.

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