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From: taylor@hplabsc.UUCP
Newsgroups: mod.comp-soc
Subject: Re: Calculators and Understanding
Message-ID: <449@hplabsc.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 13-Jul-86 15:48:12 EDT
Article-I.D.: hplabsc.449
Posted: Sun Jul 13 15:48:12 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 13-Jul-86 21:18:40 EDT
Reply-To: pyramid!prls!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
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Approved: taylor@hplabs
Reference: <383@hplabsc.UUCP>


This article is from pyramid!prls!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka
 and was received on Sat Jul 12 22:53:56 1986

>> [...assorted comments about how calculators are ruining education...]
>
>In a similar vein, somebody once asked Grace Hopper about the purported
>"dehumanizing" aspects of computer-mediated communications.  Her reply
>was "I remember when they said that about telephones".

Of course, they may have been right.

I'm at least half-serious here.  Any intermediary in communication reduces
the quality of the communication.  This includes computers, telephones, the
written word, the neighborhood gossip, and what have you.

The flip side, of course, is to ask what communication would have occurred
without the technology.  Very often, the answer in each of these cases is
"none" -- in which case the technology is a clear win; or some other
intermediary is used -- in which case it often is.  But there are cases
where the technology is harmful, not beneficial; and one cannot a priori
rule out the possibility that such harm outweighs the benefits.

That said, it seems clear to me that in general, the benefits of new
communications technology *does* outweigh the disadvantages.

Frank Adams                           ihnp4!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka
Multimate International    52 Oakland Ave North    E. Hartford, CT 06108