“A Logic Called Joe”
The short story, “A Logic Named Joe” was
written in 1946. Whether the author was theoretically entertaining his mine
with fantastical thoughts or he had special knowledge about the computer
industry appears to be unknown. How could a single author be privy to so much
detailed information? But if he was not, how could he so accurately guess at so
many intricate details of the future?
The
author details abilities of the home computer that had not yet been invented or
conceived. In the story computers are interestingly, yet accurately called
“Logics” this is an appropriate name as their abilities are confined to logical
actions.
There
is a mention in the story about an invention that made the entire concept and
the use of “logics” wide-spread and common. This “trick circuit” was invented
by a man called Carson. This reference could easily be applied to either the
transistor in the 1940s, the “Chip” or integrated circuit in 1958 or the first
microprocessor in 1971. This phenomenal invention was credited for fueling the
popularity and commonality of the “logics”.
AT
the time of the stories writing the television had just come on the scene. The
television, which was not in common use yet, was called vision receivers in the
story. Whether this technology fueled the author’s imaginations that led to the
story is likely, yet only a partial explanation of the apparent prophecies
included in the story.
In
the story there is something called the “tank” that holds all of the knowledge,
information and broadcasts. “The tank is a big buildin' full of all the facts
in creation an' all the recorded telecasts that ever was made—an' it's hooked
in with all the other tanks all over the country”[i]
This “tank” sounds an awful lot like the World Wide Web. But in this story it
has an actual geographical site or a single location.
The
story veers from actual modern reality, however, when it seems to give “Logics”
or computers the ability to independently reason and calculate. The errant
logic “Joe” apparently is credited with knowledge that can identify his own
individual malfunction, see it as a positive malfunction and then reason how
best to use and utilize this malfunction to best perform its designed duties.
The
mention of “censor blocks” could be in reference to parameters and filters that
are sometimes placed on sites by humanity and are sometimes put on home
computers by cautious parents or companies that want to maintain the integrity
of the use of their work computers.
One thing that the author thought of and
integrated into the story that has not yet been able to find its way into
computer use is the way in which Logics are able to understand, calculate and
answer a direct question. Today computers cannot do this. We still enter in key
words in order to find sites that relate to a topic, and then we must
individual hone and break down our search to hope to find a satisfactory
answer. In the story, questions are perceived and directly answered. The Logics
seem to be able to logically and concisely understand the question and be able
to use the knowledge in the “tank” to formulate an applicable answer. This
technology has not yet been invented or utilized.
We need to find the balance between technology and real world life. These ideas show how things change or can be changed. How do we control those changes.
ReplyDelete