Showing posts with label thinking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thinking. Show all posts

Monday, March 17, 2014

Let’s Consider: Computers

There is much more that can be said and discussed about these amazing machines than I can cover here, but let’s get a taste.

The thing, the physical stuff sitting in front of you – emitting various wavelengths of light, spinning magnetic platters, generating heat as electrons flow in time to the vibrating of crystals – is not what you’re looking at. You’re looking at what I've written – probably imagining waves and spinning, heat and vibrations, crystals and little pin-points of light (that’s how I imagine electrons). The physical thing in front of you, if measured and considered as a physical thing, is basically a water-slide for electricity; the electrons spin around and around inside a box, and then that energy becomes heat, or light, or just goes around some more until you stop the ride (that is, turn off the machine).

They're in the computer?
But, obviously, that isn't what your computer is. Your computer is essentially metaphysical. A computer takes a lot of a