We don't know What we Are

When I wrote that title, I did not say "Who we are." I said, "What we are." Because we have become objects. 

Object-Oriented Programming does not only apply to Computers, but it also applies to us. And that is a profound change. 

I might as well get personal here, I graduated from the U of Illinois as an Electronics Engineer. This was a smart choice, and I made lots of money during the Cold War, which ended in 1990 when the Computer took over. 

The Computer changed who we were, but we did not realize this. We knew something had changed, but didn't know what. Not too smart! 

Now, dear reader, I will try to explain what an object is. And I can explain that easiest by explaining what it is not. It is not alive. 

We are alive, in fact, we are animals with large brains that often do not work too well. 

And we are doing our best to be objects - something we can never be.

My brother Steve asked me to say more about how we objectify ourselves, and I am happy to do this.  

Objects were used a great deal in Programming in the Nineties (too much, really) but he would have no idea of this. I will start over and try to explain how Computers have changed us -  and how we think of ourselves. 

 

Any important technology changes us (usually without our knowing it) and the Computer is no exception. 

The Digital Computer requires us to first convert any input to numbers (digits) process it. and then convert it back into what it was. This happens very fast (in microseconds) and we don't usually notice this. 

The Computer is stupid (really) but fast. 

Without knowing it, we are trying to do the same thing. Act smart, but be dumb.