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In June 2008 I announced I was writing a book. The working title is 'Living in the Cloud'. It is a book intended to help people understand computers, the internet and other technology they use every day. I plan to have the book finished by the end of 2008, and will post excerpts as I write them for feedback and criticism. The following is one such excerpt:
Strength in Numbers
All human meaning exists somewhere in the world between something and nothing. Throughout our history we have sought to capture meaning and record it, for ourselves, or for our future selves. In doing so with ones and zeros, the literal embodiment of something and nothing, there is a kind of poetry at work. We can capture anything, no matter how subtle or complicated, if we only have enough numbers. And all that we do capture, whether magical or mundane, is made from the same dust. It is all, in the end, just bits.
And yet there is strength in numbers. These numbers are alarmingly precise and surprisingly flexible. Most importantly, they are reproducible. The binary system offers a way to record information that can be reproduced quickly, easily and flawlessly in its entirety. This is an incredible achievement in itself. But in addition, the binary system, by its very nature, works in such a way that any individual piece of that information, no matter how small, can be identified, extracted or altered, and that is what makes it simply mind-blowing.
It's amazing what we take for granted. A typist who had never used a word processor would be astonished to discover that whole chunks of text could be edited and moved around without having to be retyped. Before the printing press, only the very privileged few ever had the chance to read a book. Can we imagine a world with no electricity? It was so once, and not so long ago. It's hard to imagine life without cars, cameras, television and computers, but these are all technologies that have appeared within living memory for some. Those born today will never know a world without the technology this book explores.
Technology changes everything. Once something has been invented it stays invented. Once something enters consciousness, it cannot be removed without the removal of consciousness itself. Technology creates empires and destroys others. Wars are fought for it, with it and prevented by it. It affects every aspect of our lives. The course of history and the history of technology are inextricably linked. As for the future, renowned computer scientist Alan Kay once said the best way to predict the future is to invent it.
Binary information, at microprocessor speeds, is the essence of digital technology. Think for one more moment why digital technology is so mind-blowing. Whatever we experience, whether it be words, pictures, sounds, movement, none of it is really solid. What we are experiencing is an endless stream of numbers, silently rearranging themselves, perfect patterns from mathematical noise to create meaning that is real, just for a moment, before collapsing back into infinity. Creation and destruction too quick for the eye, ready to be recalled again at any time, in any form. Wrought of creation and nothingness in their purest forms.
Strength in numbers indeed.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
The problem with such rapid creation and destruction is so often there is no history, as with print where you can collect the volumes over time, when something is erased and recreated so rapidly it's difficult to know how refined (and reliable) an information source can be.
There is also the tendency to think less and merely fill the space because there is space to be filled. Think of all the entertainment blogs that have popped up tracking every painstaking detail of their subjects.
That said, the majesty of creation and destruction coexisting to form an extension of human consciousness is simply stunning.
Printing is an excellent idea, but then digital technology isn't restricted to what's on-screen anyway. One could argue that the printing you speak of is handled by the same system of ones and zeros as well.
As for what people do with technology, that's another matter. Some will marvel at it, some will use it to reach great heights. Some will ignore it, others will amass huge collections of porn. CARTOON porn. There are ones and zeros in real life too I sometimes think ;)