Machines that Do Work

One of my handy machines is the one that makes espresso coffee for me every morning. It has a boiler that creates steam, that passes through the coffee grounds, and extracts concentrated coffee from it. You can also steam milk, to make cappuccino drinks.

People have known about steam forever, but only recently did it occur to them that it could be used to do work - that had always been done by muscle power before. The result was the Industrial Revolution - that had huge effects on people, both good and bad.

This was a textbook example of how technology affects people. And its most important effect was the simple fact - that the people involved did not notice the huge changes that were happening to them.

Our brains were formed millions of years ago, and they cannot comprehend the huge changes that happened only a few thousand years ago - when we became civilized. And they cannot begin to comprehend the changes of only a couple of hundred years ago - when our machines changed us completely.

But I must make an important observation here - some people knew about these changes, although most did not. A gap developed between those who knew (or thought they knew) and those who did not - and didn't want to. Even as millions died in two World Wars.

I can see right now - that I have stumbled onto the subject that I wanted to write about all along. That is simple enough - we have changed so much, most people have decided not to think, about these changes. But just let them happen, on their own - without human intervention.

Their minds have shut down - with enormous consequences for the society they are in.

Then along came the Computer - and another gap widened, between Hardware people and Software people! It's not hard to be a Software person - I am learning the Java programming language myself, and I am not a very bright person. But for most people - this is impossible. Their minds cannot bridge this gap.

Allow me to speak of the first gap - between people who are socially aware, and those who are not. In America, this has resulted in the election of Trump - a huge event, that most cannot understand, and do not want to. He was elected by people who wanted changes - but could not think about the changes they wanted.

He is like them - making changes (huge changes) without thinking about the changes he is making.