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Page 9, The New Character Of The Citizen "Those who have fallen from the rope, either accidentally or deliberately, will find society not to their liking and w

Page 9, The New Character Of The Citizen "Those who have fallen from the rope, either accidentally or deliberately, will find society not to their liking and won't have much to lose in open hostility. These will be the alienated citizens of tomorrow." Page 1 Footnote: "This Paper was presented at the MIT Club of Northern California in San Francisco, 27 February 1968." Geez. The Tet Offensive had occurred a month earlier, The Monterey Pop Festival 8 months earlier. The Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Who, Hendrix, Joplin, etc. were all just starting out. MLK and RFK were still addressing crowds of listeners and the DNC in Chicago was 6 months away. Computers generated enormous heat, required 30 and 60 amp power, and filled rooms wall-to-wall. Abstracting the ideas presented in this paper with everything else going on in the world is a testament to just how serious he viewed his role in developing the use of communications and information technology. He didn't care a wit about cat videos. He cared about whether quantitative decision making contributed to hopelessness, despair and extreme anti-social behavior.

fit2rule 7y ago
> He cared about whether quantitative decision making contributed to hopelessness, despair and extreme anti-social behavior. Makes one wonder, how tall the giants on whose shoulders we rest, really are. I mean, callous and anti-social behaviour existed before computers came about. Computers are a force multiplier for almost everything at which they are applied. Page 11: "It may be appropriate that our profession, not normally given to introspection, start to examine its own role to better appreciate the contribution we might make. I believe those who understand future technology have an obligation to act at least as an early warning system to the rest of society." Indeed, it seems those 'future technology' wizards need to constantly remind themselves of such duties... and the delicate quandary is that what is old, becomes new again meanwhile.

fit2rule 7y ago

> He cared about whether quantitative decision making contributed to hopelessness, despair and extreme anti-social behavior. Makes one wonder, how tall the giants on whose shoulders we rest, really are. I mean, callous and anti-social behaviour existed before computers came about. Computers are a force multiplier for almost everything at which they are applied. Page 11: "It may be appropriate that our profession, not normally given to introspection, start to examine its own role to better appreciate the contribution we might make. I believe those who understand future technology have an obligation to act at least as an early warning system to the rest of society." Indeed, it seems those 'future technology' wizards need to constantly remind themselves of such duties... and the delicate quandary is that what is old, becomes new again meanwhile.