Probably this
distinction would be seen only as qualitative, if the shift from
the universe of continuous functions and monotonic
behavior-whatever applies to extreme cases applies to everything
in between-were not concretized in a different condition of
human self-constitutive practical experience.
In the universe of literacy-based analog expectations,
accumulation results in progress: know more (language, science,
arts), have more (resources), acquire more (real estate). Even
striving-from a general attitude to particular forms (do better,
achieve higher levels)-is inherent in the underlying structure of
the analog. The digital is not linear in nature. Within the
digital, one small deviation (one digit in the phrase) changes
the result of processing so drastically that retracing the error
and fixing it becomes itself a new experience, and many times a
new source of knowledge.
In a written sentence, a misspelling or a typographical error is
almost automatically corrected. Through literacy, we dispose of
a model that tells us what is right. In the digital, the
language of the program and the data on which programs operate
are difficult to distinguish (if at all). Such machines can
manipulate more symbols, and of a broader variety, than the
human mind can. Free of the burden of previous practical
experiences, such machines can refer to potential experiences in
a frame of reference where literacy is entirely blind.
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