Coping with the Computer

We live in a difficult world, but we don't want to admit this.

This is the problem of our time; why are we determined to not face it?

"Because that is the only smart way to be." you will reply. Anyone who understands what is going on (and does hide this) is going to have a hard time.

You have to be stupid, and if you are not, you have to pretend to be.

This situation has been with us for a long time, ever since we became civilized, thousands of years ago.

It was well-known to the Romans, and the response to their injustices was one of the foundations of Christianity.

What has the Computer to do with this?

I'm glad you asked because I have a long answer for you. That begins with the creation of the Modern World, continued with Industrialization, then with the invention of the Computer.

Clever creatures that we are, we have outsmarted ourselves, with this last invention. But explaining this will be difficult.

It began with a British inventor and his mechanical computing machine. He could never make it work, but one of his assistants, Ada Lovelace, invented Software, that did make it work,

Our explanation of the Computer starts right here with the invention of Software, by a female member of the British aristocracy.

What is software? It is a series of instructions to a computer: do this, do this, and so on. These instructions can be repeated, and they can include variables.

They have to be written in a language the computer understands. A binary language consisting of only ones and zeros.

Pay careful attention here, I am saying the Computer is like nothing else in the world. And this is why it is so difficult to really understand.

In the middle of the 20th Century, Software took off. And the Computer now controls us.

There have been many books written about this, explaining it (and its social consequences) in great detail. I can only muddy the waters, by saying more myself.