Marshall McLuhan explains in his seminal book 'Understanding Media: The
Extensions of Man' published in 1964, that while the media is an
extension of our self, it is the mechanism more than the content that
changes society. This lesson is doubly important for virtualized society
where the mechanism is the computer, but the media is software.
Consequently, it is the computers that change society more than the
media content.
Using a General-Purpose Computer, the media is timeshared, blindly
trusted and exposed to corruption. The message of the General-Purpose
Computer is 'crime pays and dictators rule.' Unchanged, this message
dooms the future of virtualized society. The expected message required
for virtualized society is found in the Church-Turing Thesis. The
message is the same one from the history of civilization carried by the
Abacus. This message is of individual self-empowerment and mathematical
perfection.
Two very different messages radiating from different computer
mechanisms. The von Neumann architecture is founded on blind trust and
centralized privilege. The other, architecture follows the Church-Turing
Thesis and mechanizes power equally and fairly through the symbols of
clockwork mathematics. This uniform cellular mechanism is balanced
atomically based on mutual suspicion. No unfair privilege exists in the
mechanism, because the atomic functions are regulated by the laws of the
λ-calculus following nature's Universal Model of Computation, all
present in the Church-Turing Thesis.
The Abacus, the Slide Rule, and Babbage's Analytical Engine are all
personal tools that distribute power to individuals, through a message
of self-empowerment. Starting with the Abacus, computer science as a
media is a mathematical 'Extension of Man.' Like McLuhan's other
examples the human existence is enhanced by computers through
intrinsically pure mathematics. The Abacus and the Slide Rule carry no
unwanted or unneeded, supervising or centralized baggage. Highly
efficient results of the Abacus and the Slide-Rule created prosperity
that built the Victorian Age and won the Moon Race without the unwanted
side effects emanating from the General-Purpose Computer. The von
Neumann architecture is shared through blind trust. Instead, a
Church-Turing Machine is founded on mutual suspicion.
The two different mechanisms carry two very different messages that
shape the future of society. The General-Purpose Computer leads to
centralized privileges, undetected crimes and eventual dictatorship. A
balance exists in the mechanisms of a Church-Turing Machine between
hardware and software. This balance is maintained by mutual suspicion
between the components of the machine. Turing's α-machine on one side is
counterbalanced by Church's λ-calculus on the other. These two clockwork
engines harness and channel the message of trusted software. as a
reliable, dependable, trusted medium.
Extensions of Man' published in 1964, that while the media is an
extension of our self, it is the mechanism more than the content that
changes society. This lesson is doubly important for virtualized society
where the mechanism is the computer, but the media is software.
Consequently, it is the computers that change society more than the
media content.
Using a General-Purpose Computer, the media is timeshared, blindly
trusted and exposed to corruption. The message of the General-Purpose
Computer is 'crime pays and dictators rule.' Unchanged, this message
dooms the future of virtualized society. The expected message required
for virtualized society is found in the Church-Turing Thesis. The
message is the same one from the history of civilization carried by the
Abacus. This message is of individual self-empowerment and mathematical
perfection.
Two very different messages radiating from different computer
mechanisms. The von Neumann architecture is founded on blind trust and
centralized privilege. The other, architecture follows the Church-Turing
Thesis and mechanizes power equally and fairly through the symbols of
clockwork mathematics. This uniform cellular mechanism is balanced
atomically based on mutual suspicion. No unfair privilege exists in the
mechanism, because the atomic functions are regulated by the laws of the
λ-calculus following nature's Universal Model of Computation, all
present in the Church-Turing Thesis.
The Abacus, the Slide Rule, and Babbage's Analytical Engine are all
personal tools that distribute power to individuals, through a message
of self-empowerment. Starting with the Abacus, computer science as a
media is a mathematical 'Extension of Man.' Like McLuhan's other
examples the human existence is enhanced by computers through
intrinsically pure mathematics. The Abacus and the Slide Rule carry no
unwanted or unneeded, supervising or centralized baggage. Highly
efficient results of the Abacus and the Slide-Rule created prosperity
that built the Victorian Age and won the Moon Race without the unwanted
side effects emanating from the General-Purpose Computer. The von
Neumann architecture is shared through blind trust. Instead, a
Church-Turing Machine is founded on mutual suspicion.
The two different mechanisms carry two very different messages that
shape the future of society. The General-Purpose Computer leads to
centralized privileges, undetected crimes and eventual dictatorship. A
balance exists in the mechanisms of a Church-Turing Machine between
hardware and software. This balance is maintained by mutual suspicion
between the components of the machine. Turing's α-machine on one side is
counterbalanced by Church's λ-calculus on the other. These two clockwork
engines harness and channel the message of trusted software. as a
reliable, dependable, trusted medium.
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