The fundamental problem of our time is digital involution. This phenomenon has two different facets, which can be described as follows. The first is that software solutions to technical and societal problems are almost universally preferred to hardware solutions. This is partly a result of Moore’s Law, making the amount of space on computers seem infinite. The second is that such problems that cannot be solved with software are selectively ignored by most businesses, and increasingly scientists. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that this approach runs counter to the ways of thought which are fundamental to Western civilization. Indeed, it may rob us of our future. We will first discuss several examples of digital involution, and explain how they lead to violation of the scientific method.
Digital involution comes in many forms. The most obvious is the substitution of printed literature with digital text. This may seem a trivial change, and perhaps even a technical advance. I am sure you are well aware of the purported advantages of digital text, namely those of portability, convenience, and endless mutability. However, most of us are unaware that electronic books and other such media can be and are changed without notice or warning for frivolous reasons, be they political or otherwise. Furthermore, such files soon become incompatible with the latest range of devices, making them as indecipherable to the readers of the next decade as the Linear B of Crete is to ourselves.
We live in an age where mankind is outnumbered by his silicon creations. There are at least five computers in the house of the average American. One not from this century might think that therefore the repair and manufacturing of these machines would be a fundamental part of education and society, as the repair of automobiles was in the twentieth century. However, such a conjecture would in fact be a sad misconception. In order to open a computer, one must buy a set of Allen wrenches of obscure and arbitrary sizes. Ones the device is open, one is presented with a series of microchips and smaller machines, which were applied to the printed circuit board with a machine only corporations and universities are able to afford. While it is fairly trivial to replace the lithium battery, it is all too common for the other components to be encased in a layer of indelible glue. All such components have been transported from faraway lands. Most of the users of these machines have not the faintest idea of how they work, where they come from, or how they might be repaired. Indeed, when one considers historical examples of the practice of importing technology from foreign lands which one does not understand, our current way of relating to foreign technology is best described as a cargo cult.
In recent decades, educational science labs have been debased in an insidious way. Experiments have been slowly but surely replaced with arbitrary exercises that have little basis in reality. They can appear on paper or on computers but in almost all cases they resemble poorly constructed word problems that one must collaborate with the dim bulbs of the class to solve. These exercises contain none of the natural variability of reality that is encountered when using the scientific method. A similar variant of this problem can be encountered in scientific papers, when computerized simulations are substituted for real experiments. In biology, animals are often replaced with computer simulations. In the domain of rocketry, almost all design is tested only with computers, rather than hardware.
A new heroic age of invention is the only solution to these problems. How, then should we define this term? What should such a culture look like? In fact, we know, since this existed in the first half of the twentieth century. The first step is to develop science kits. These kits should contain microchips, sensors, and other inexpensive sundries necessary to develop an understanding of computers and science. Competitions for the use and application of these kits could be established. Inventors must be held up as the heroes of boyhood. We may have a dim recollection of Thomas Edison as the inventor of the electric lightbulb, but who indeed can name the inventor of the LED, or the solar panel? Modern inventions seem to arise from faceless corporations, and there no glory is taken in their creation.
Contrary to what one may expect, this new age will require more computers, not fewer. Most machines at present are cripplingly generalized. They are meant to be used by all ages for all purposes, and their users are bombarded by all manner of advertisements. Controlled and limited computers are all that should exist in schools. This form must be free of commercials, and have no access to the open internet. Prior to the use of even these machines, students should be trained in the workings of logic gates, in Catholic schools under the watchful eye of St. Aquinas. Other machines should be attached to weather stations and agricultural systems. Bizarrely, there are no keyboards developed for the entry of mathematical symbols or chemical formulae. One could envision new computer terminals optimized for every form of science. All such systems should speak the lingua franca of Linux. The goal of these systems must be to enable man to peer outward at the universe rather than inward to digital shadows.
The mindset of the coming Heroic Age of Invention will be one quite different from that promised by our current overlords. It will be a world where the construction of battling robots is a common contest in high schools. Science will not be constrained by the vagaries of government funding, but will rather be used to further the fortunes of its patrons over generations. The glass palaces of office workers will fall silent, and remain as monuments to an age of insanity. Every town will have its own make of computers and cars, manufacturing will as before occupy the greatest portion of the economy. It is our duty to build the foundation of this age today. What are you waiting for
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This is an incredible article. Love how it touches on how inventors have been usurped by corporations. Something else this has done is remove the artistry with products and inventions. Looking back at inventions prior to our current era, they were as much art as they were technology. I'm hopeful this will return once heroic inventors make their return.
This reminds me of a line Peter Thiel dropped in a discussion along these lines: "We were promised flying cars, what we got was 128 characters"