It seems certain
that a mistake has been made on the public policy issue of who uses computers and
what they are permitted to use them for. The naive egalitarianism that so many of us
espoused may have been foolish in retrospect. We seem to have
unleashed a vast madness of unthinking and even puerile consumers
whose only thought is to text about underage sex partners, vapid
consumerism and the next iPhone. The mistake, I believe, was to
allow just anyone to use computers. That idea, that openness, was
surely noble, but look where it has led.
Just for discussion,
I want to propose the idea of limiting the use of computers and
computing to an elite. This elite would have had to study and learn
something about the history and philosophy of computing and perhaps
also have their moral character evaluated by a qualified board. The
requirements would not necessarily be much, what I have in mind could
easily be learned by pretty much anyone of average intelligence in a
few years, certainly less than five. And a background check could
determine if the potential computer user was a rapist, a member of an
organized crime syndicate, an abuser of children, or a potential
computer company or entertainment industry executive.
Given the moral hazards involved in certain professions, members of those professions would no doubt have to be vetted with special care. These would be fields where the risk of criminal involvement and contempt for the law has resulted in the overt and appalling exploitation of innocent people in order to enrich the wealthy at the expense of the poor. These fields would certainly include parts of the finance industry, politicians at the local and national level, and of course computer animation executives of any rank.
Given the moral hazards involved in certain professions, members of those professions would no doubt have to be vetted with special care. These would be fields where the risk of criminal involvement and contempt for the law has resulted in the overt and appalling exploitation of innocent people in order to enrich the wealthy at the expense of the poor. These fields would certainly include parts of the finance industry, politicians at the local and national level, and of course computer animation executives of any rank.
What would they
study? Oh this and that, about where computers came from, what the
ideas are, that sort of thing. Here is one potential paper on the
reading list: its the report that Dr. John von Neumann wrote about
what may be the first stored program computer at the U of
Pennsylvania for his client, the US Army, that paid for the work. I
can't imagine that anyone who used computers would not be fascinated
by this paper. Here is one paragraph from the introduction.
You see, its not
just all boring capacitors and resistors, there are, or at least
were, some ideas behind these devices. Unlike today, of course,
where the only ideas that can be discerned is to steal money from the
consumer and annoy them with advertisements while collecting personal
data without their knowledge or consent. What a dismal fate for such
a high-minded invention!
If the requirements
up front seem a little stiff to people, perhaps we could find a more
incremental solution. Perhaps every toaster oven and smart phone or
other device could come with a paper from the reading list that the
consumer would have to read before the device could be activated.
Different devices could come with different papers, perhaps. Given
the obsolescence built into most of these devices, such that they are
worthless within 18 months or so, over a short number of years the
consumer would have certainly read a couple of dozen relevant papers
or texts. I do not like this idea as much as simply having an
elite, I think any effort to let just anyone use computers is doomed
to failure and will ultimately just bring us right back to where we
are.
The entire paper can
be found at this location.
I have included the title page and table of contents below.
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