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I agree. This is what I was looking to explore.

by sbr464 8y ago

jstewartmobile 8y ago
It would help the thread to get a tighter definition of what would qualify as programming. If having the operator manually re-configure parts counts as programming, then we've probably already achieved purely mechanical value. If we set the bar a little higher to a bonafide Turing machine, then I think you've thrown down the gauntlet.
- sbr464 8y ago
  To be honest, I had been pondering about how I personally put so much energy in learning, exploring software etc, yet it seems to depend on, at it’s core, a few other important innovations. It’s like saying I’m a speech therapist, but Darwin decides not to bring a mouth, tongue, or hands to write with. When the lights go out, is it relevant?
  - jstewartmobile 8y ago
    If the lights go "out", I suspect most of us are dead meat anyway. Only things I see left in the "relevant" column by then would be how painlessly you get to go and your relationship with Jesus Christ.
  - ebcode 8y ago
    Well sure it is. Those dependencies you're talking about (the transistor, keyboards, screens, etc -- the things that modern computing depend on) are just the current, and I would say arbitrary, implementation of the concept of "computing". A lot of the real early work in computing was done by George Boole, before Shannon picked up where he left off. That kind of stuff (boolean algebra, information theory) will always be relevant... (to survival in ye enden times? maybe not) and it doesn't involve electricity. Just as I imagine that the things that you learn as a speech therapist go way deeper than just helping kids with their lisps. It's easy to get caught up in the current fads and stay on the surface (e.g. programming languages, or frameworks) of the computing field, and maybe what you're experiencing is a kind of existential dread about the meaning of the work you're doing. But I think if you stick with it and go deep, you'll find that "computing" is a fundamental aspect of the universe. And if the lights do go out, then maybe everything you learned while "studying computers" will be of help in figuring out how to get them back on again... Or, better yet, help you to realize that you didn't actually need the lights in the first place.

I agree. This is what I was looking to explore.

by sbr464 8y ago

I agree. This is what I was looking to explore.

It would help the thread to get a tighter definition of what would qualify as programming. If having the operator manually re-configure parts counts as programming, then we've probably already achieved purely mechanical value. If we set the bar a little higher to a bonafide Turing machine, then I think you've thrown down the gauntlet.

sbr464 8y ago
To be honest, I had been pondering about how I personally put so much energy in learning, exploring software etc, yet it seems to depend on, at it’s core, a few other important innovations. It’s like saying I’m a speech therapist, but Darwin decides not to bring a mouth, tongue, or hands to write with. When the lights go out, is it relevant?
- jstewartmobile 8y ago
  If the lights go "out", I suspect most of us are dead meat anyway. Only things I see left in the "relevant" column by then would be how painlessly you get to go and your relationship with Jesus Christ.
- ebcode 8y ago
  Well sure it is. Those dependencies you're talking about (the transistor, keyboards, screens, etc -- the things that modern computing depend on) are just the current, and I would say arbitrary, implementation of the concept of "computing". A lot of the real early work in computing was done by George Boole, before Shannon picked up where he left off. That kind of stuff (boolean algebra, information theory) will always be relevant... (to survival in ye enden times? maybe not) and it doesn't involve electricity. Just as I imagine that the things that you learn as a speech therapist go way deeper than just helping kids with their lisps. It's easy to get caught up in the current fads and stay on the surface (e.g. programming languages, or frameworks) of the computing field, and maybe what you're experiencing is a kind of existential dread about the meaning of the work you're doing. But I think if you stick with it and go deep, you'll find that "computing" is a fundamental aspect of the universe. And if the lights do go out, then maybe everything you learned while "studying computers" will be of help in figuring out how to get them back on again... Or, better yet, help you to realize that you didn't actually need the lights in the first place.