Referring to an article I wrote for the UCO Reporter about the
NSA, Olga Wolkenstein claims that Dave Israel depends on computers while Esther
Sutofsky depends on mind, ability and instinct. She gives as an example on her
blog an instance where a GPS failed to guide a motorist out of a predicament, but where simple observation succeeded.
What silly reasoning. The article was about the NSA and how,
aided by computers that sift through Intel, this agency protects the US. Is
Olga saying that Esther, brilliant though she might be, could protect the
country better with her own “mind, ability and instinct” than the NSA can in
using its computers?
No, not exactly, I am sure. I certainly hope not anyway for
the sake of our country!
General Colin Powell is an expert car mechanic. Does that mean
that’s all he knows about? I don’t think so. President Jimmy Carter is an expert peanut farmer. Does that
mean he knows nothing about being the commander of a nuclear submarine, being
governor of a state or being US president? Again, I don’t think so. Ronald
Reagan was an actor. Does that mean….. Well, I think perhaps we get the point.
Dave also has mind, ability and instinct; and IN ADDITION he knows computers
and has a great deal of UCO EXPERIENCE.
Hi Lanny,
ReplyDeleteIt is so silly to engage in such discussions. The computer, is a machine that changed the world!
It is after all a tool, which is an incredible force multiplier. The idea that anyone "thinks like a computer" is by definition absurd.
While there are extensive documented discussion as to what constitutes thinking, as of today, the computer does not qualify.
The fact that Big-Blue beat Grand Master Kasparov, is a result of the massive memory and parallel processing algorithms built into the machine, which allowed it to store virtually the entire path map of the chess board.
In short, to reach the "best" decision, you cannot beat having all of the data on hand and accessible.
The less data you have on hand on any particular problem the less likely hood there is of arriving at the correct solution.
That is the concept behind the NSA desire to have "total information awareness"
One last thought on the concept of a "thinking machine", there is an extensive body of research on adaptive neural networking; based on this concept, machines have been and are being developed that operate in a way that simulates thinking. They are capable of developing new ideas from initial seed data, such machines are incredible to observe and use!
This sort of capability represents the shape of things to come in the field of Information Technology.
Perhaps I will write an article for the Reporter on "War and Peace in the digital age"
Dave Israel
This ranting against "techies", on the malcontent blog, is a campaign tactic- designed to divide the Delegate electorate. There is almost certainly a contingent of CV residents that are not computer or internet proficient and perhaps intimidated or frustrated with this new tool and medium. The opposition is targeting this group, hoping to use them to political advantage. The tactic also ties in well with obstruction of the WiFi Project.
ReplyDeleteSimply put, there just is not a lot to work with over there.
We do not need an offline person (dinosaur) in an online world for UCo President. Nothing would ever get done, backwards, backwards.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that anyone over there has any real problem with computers, "the Cloud" or any other information technology. After all, most of the lies and ridiculous gross distortions created by the malcontents are disseminated over an Internet blog. In other words, it is a dodge to scrape up Delegate votes.
ReplyDeleteIf there is any real problem with IT among the malcontents, it is likely connected with the transparency and free and unrestricted information flow that the internet provides. In the decades prior to 2008, information was tightly controlled at UCO. The average homeowner, myself included, had absolutely no clue what was going at UCO, and even the slightest polite inquiry was met with nasty response, lies, or no response at all. Not surprisingly, everyone thought that UCO was a "nest of crooks" (quotes intentional- I didn't make that one up).
With the advent of this Blog, IFI, the reestablishment of an independent UCO Reporter and video broadcast of Delegate Assemblies and committee meetings, many people associated with today's malcontent group were turned out of office. This group is using the internet medium to effect re-entry into UCO political life, but the lies and hysterical scare tactics that are more suited to poolside bullshit sessions simply do not hold up to the sunlight of the free internet.