I understand the theory of the convergence of literary theory and computer hypertext, however I am not sure how, as it was described in the readings, it is so different with computers versus standard text.
reading response 4
in this weeks reading , licklider talked about the future relationship between man and computers. he believed that eventually man and computer would be able to work together to make decisions and solve complex situations without depending and a pre-determined problem solving program. To me this calls into question the idea that computers could be able to think on their own. I personally don't believe that computers can think on their own, because they lack the capacity to emote, and they have to be programed in way so that the can "think"
Man's future no doubt is intertwined with machines. Businesses thrive, information and thought flow freely and feats are accomplished everyday that would otherwise be impossible without the use of machines. As machines become more complex, humanity has seen fit to expand the use of machines to act as an extension of ourselves.
Once again I think this is something that I mentioned briefly in class but I feel like I have much more to say about it. In Man-Computer Symbiosis, Licklider describes the relationship between man and computer that he forsees. He believes that man and computers will work together because each can do things that the other cannot.
Jay Licklider talks about Man-Computer symbiosis in his piece as an ideal goal for technological advancement. He claims that operations that take up most of man's time can be more efficiently performed by machines (76). I'm not sure if I think that we will discover a way to design computers that think exactly how humans do. We do so out of evolution, a natural process, not something created by any one person or a collaboration. Our capabilities are in large part due to accidents.
The most interesting part of Theodore Nelson's article was when he talked about the three false theories of writing. Though inspiration is a key tool in writing, hard work is also necessary. It's impossible for a writer to have inspiration and not the drive to dig deeper into their ideas. When writers are inspired, it takes a lot of work for that inspiration to be perceived correctly. Once an idea hits, the perspiration comes from elongating that idea and extracting information. Once a good outline is created, it again takes a lot of work to fill in the missing pieces.
Licklider introduces the idea of the Man-Computer Symbiosis as a means to explore how the man and computer can work together to facilitate faster methods of making decisions, gathering information, and faster ways for machines to help humans in any way possible. His essay is interesting because at times you are not sure if he is contradicting himself and his idea of the man-computer symbiosis. He makes the point of addressing the fact that the computer is capable of performing faster tasks then humans and that eventually technical thinking should be performed by the computer.
According to J.C.R. Licklider, one of the main aims of man-computer symbiosis "is to bring computing machines effectively into processes of thinking that must go on in 'real time'" (75). Instead of programming the computer to complete a certain task, the machine would be intelligent enough to accomplish it using its "mind." Licklider hopes that there will be a future in which we work symbiotically with computers to expand our capabilities.
I want to start off by saying first of all that although computers are incredibly helpful, and have proven to be the new wave of technology, I think it is not good how dependent we are on them. Computers have proven to be helpful with more and more things, for example we don't even sign credit card reciepts at the store anymore, we sign a little computer screen that stores the signature. Same as the use of debit cards, people rarely carry cash anymore as they are so dependent on this concept of electronic money.