Book details of 'The Future Does Not Compute: Transcending the Machines in Our Midst'

Title	The Future Does Not Compute: Transcending the Machines in Our Midst
Author(s)	Steve Talbott, Stephen L. Talbott
ISBN	1565920856
Language	English
Publisher	O'Reilly & Associates

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The Virtual Bookcase Reviews of 'The Future Does Not Compute: Transcending the Machines in Our Midst':

Reviewer amazon.com wrote:
Stephen Talbott's The Future Does Not Compute has been widely touted as a neo-Luddite anti-computer tract. This sort of pigeonholing makes it easy to ignore the profound and disturbing questions Talbott raises about our machine-dominated society. The author brings years of computer and Internet experience to the table, leavened by a deep skepticism of techno-idealism, disdain of muddy thinking, and fear that we have embraced an overwhelming force before we've begun to examine its implications. Is technology a utopian delusion that blinds us to social and personal reality? Does the information society actually disdain information? Have we anthropomorphized machines to the point where our institutions resemble them? Talbott neither expects that computers will vanish, nor believes they should. What he asks of us is to examine closely our own humanity. As much as computer believers may squirm, it's hard to elude the questions raised by this complex and intelligent book.
Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
Talbott's use of the term "jeremiad" is perhaps more appropriate than he knows. The book is not simply a prophecy of computerized doom, but a call to a kind of repentance: we should turn from worshipping the idol of computer and communications technology, and instead seek to understand its true nature so as to use it appropriately. Given the current spate of open-mouthed, blue-sky, uncritical pamphlets lauding all forms of technology, and particularly the "Infommercial SuperCliche," this should be a welcome change of pace. Talbott's work is not alone, however, and may ultimately be disappointing. While those of a cautious bent towards technology will applaud it, the book requires more discipline to present its case effectively to the enthusiasts. The work is divided into four parts; technology and social structures, technology and education, technology and writing, and a section on epistemology with special reference to the writings of Owen Barfield. Part one shows most clearly that the book started life as a collection of essays. If the intent is really as broad as the wide-ranging examples indicate, then Talbott has failed to provide an adequate background in sociology. If the thesis is merely his often-repeated observation that the perfect analogue of a corporation is a computer network, then the section is too long, and most of the material redundant. This lack of focus finds an ironic reflection later in the book when Talbott notes that it is too easy to produce "superficially cogent verbal emptiness" when dealing in the abstract. Still, there is balance in that both the "bright future" of Rheingold and Gilder, and the dystopia of Mander, come under equally incisive analysis. As a teacher, I am delighted by the section on computers in education. The three short chapters are packed with insight. My one complaint is that it gets rather lost in the book overall, but I heartily recommend it to any educator, particularly those dealing with younger children. As a writer, I am slightly bemused by part three. The material is thought- provoking, but, I suspect, idiosyncratic. Talbott's experience of the writing process diverges too radically from my own at too many vital points for me to believe his points have universal application. Still, there are important points to consider here. Part four is difficult to pin down, but I would still place it as an exploration of epistemology: the study of the nature of knowledge. By turns metaphysical and spiritual, it again lacks the background in classical philosophy which might have made both the writing and reading easier. Talbott's ultimate aim seems to tie together both humanity and machine as influencing each other, but some of the examples seem counter to this. The success of the ELIZA program (recounted in chapter eighteen) seems to say less about computer technology than about our desire to reduce *any* aspect of human endeavour to a formula. ELIZA is based upon the very formulistic therapies of humanistic schools of psychology. (This may *be* Talbott's point: it's difficult to be sure.) Talbott is quite impressed with the writings of Owen Barfield. I would, then, commend to him the work of C.S. Lewis, a contemporary and close friend of Barfield's. Like Barfield, he was a medievalist with a classical educational background. Lewis' "The Abolition of Man" would bear on many points in parts two, three and four. His style had very significant structure and order which left the reader in no doubt as to his points, or the evidence leading to them. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995
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