The Computer :: Technology Internet Electronics Essays

The ComputerEven though J. David Bolter wrote Turings Man Western purification in the Computer Age in 1984, at least a century ago in computing machine years, his observations and concerns about the electronic date are in no way obsolete. Bolter examines from a historical pur soak up how the computer will reshape our understanding of the human mind and our family relationship with nature. By comparing the computer with defining technologies of previous ages, Bolter anticipates the many qualities and value of people in the digital age, his so-called Turings men. In doing so, he encourages those in the humanities to take an active power in shaping some of the perceptions of the emerging era.Humankind has created, used, and replaced innumerable technologies over the other(prenominal) 10,000 years of written record. Turings Man concentrates on only quad of these technologies the spindle and potters wheel of ancient Greece, the mechanical clock of Renaissance Western Europe, the steam engine of Industrial Europe, and finally the computer of the electronic age. According to Bolter, each of these inventions defines or redefines mans role in relation to nature(13). Although Bolter considers the influences of these technologies on many facets of culture and society, his important efforts are devoted to understanding their implications for a cultures see of time, space, thought, and creation. The spindle and the potters wheel of Ancient Greece suggest an refer relationship between man and nature. The tools are seen more as an extension of the human hand than a barrier between craftsman and material. Bolter argues that the consider of the potter, fashioning his finely crafted, but still imperfect vessel on the rotating wheel, made a outstanding impression on the thinkers of that time. The rotating nature of these tools, mimicking the great circular paths followed by celestial bodies, led Aristotle to claim that circular trend . . . was natural, w hereas doubtfulness in a straight line required elevate explanation(116). As a consequence, the Greeks adopted a cyclical view of time. The world did not progress forward in linear motion but repeated over and over. Rather than progressing, ideas and institutions would remain static or decay.The potter and his clay also served as a metaphor for presage creation. The world and its human inhabitants were fashioned out of imperfect materials by manufacturing business force. This material makes up the entirety of the world.