Dreams of a New Machine

Dreams of a New MachineCCR 633 ::: 4/12/11

Friday, April 15, 2011

How do the surrounding cultural contexts influence the goals of technological development for computing?

How are these concerns and ethical stances still evident in the machinery or in the ways we use digital networks to communicate or distribute knowledge?

Kate:Of the readings, what epistemological model seems most productive? How is the understanding of knowledge related to a particular era of technology? What is our current internet-age epistemological model?

Rachel:Two threads within these texts continually sparked my interest: information denisity/organization and the reasoning behind this progress in communication/data sharing.


Ephraim Chambers,1734


Kate:

Although Chambers notes the imperfection of the first edition more directly than the second edition, there is still an implicit understanding that the vast spread of knowledge and its accuracy was quite a difficult project that required as many contributors as possible. ... What is particularly interesting is that these points all suggest a progressive understanding of knowledge as collectively produced, constantly evolving, important for all people to have access to, and important for all people to contribute to.


Babbage and Lovelace, 1820sFriday, April 15, 2011

Difference Engine


1866 - 1946Friday, April 15, 2011

Kate:In the “Contribution,” the focus is a project that collects, categorizes, and stores all of the knowledge of all of mankind in the “Permanent World Encyclopedia.” This claim is hard to even take seriously; however, if unpacked, it suggests that all knowledge is accessible; it merely needs to be collected, observed, and found. ...

Although Wells seems opposed to specialization in regards to the university, certainly he mostly points to specialized occupations that will either be collecting and organizing this mass of information, or in the end, using it. He argues for knowledge for all, but still seems to be suggesting its greatest usefulness will be for those already comfortably within the center of society.


1890 - 1974


• Director, Office of Scientific Research & Development (Council of Nat’l Defense)

• National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

• Primary organizer of the Manhattan Project

• Raytheon


• Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

• United States Department of Defense

• MIT

• Lincoln Laboratory


Dreams of a New Machine

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