Ev BogueWhenever I try to do something that a computer can do better, I fail.
The reason for this is simple, but something I often forget. I am not a computer. I am a human. I'm made of flesh, blood, heart and soul. I am not a computer.
I'm surrounded by computers now. Many more, and much more powerful than they were two or ten years ago.
I'm sitting in front of a computer right now. A tiny 11" Macbook Air. Is it too small? Was the first question I got from people in coffee shops when I purchased it. No, it's not too small -- everything else seems too big now. Next year? My tiny Macbook will seem big in comparison.
We're going to be controlling computers with our brains, and projecting screens onto our world before we know it. The bandwidth is growing greater, the connections are getting stronger.
Throughout all of this, the computers grow stronger in the things that computers do better. Math, keeping track, archiving memory, maintaining the connections between humans across space/time.
This is why I keep stepping out of the way of the computers as they grow in power. If a computer can answer a question better than I can, I let the computer do it. If a computer can drive a car better than I can, I'll be the first to let it.
The machine allows us to do human things, while the machine does more machine things. We work together in this. We co-exist.
Here are a few real world examples of how computers are doing things better than us:
- When I need a car, I ask Zipcar where the closest car is. I don't walk around looking for a Zipcar, though I could, but that wouldn't do me any good at this point. Instead, I know that one of the two Zipcars parked in the lot behind my house are available. Instead of buying a car, paying insurance and worry, I let the computers handle the cars.
Eventually, cars will drive themselves. This will allow me to worry less. I'll drift off to thoughts that won't kill me.
When I want to talk to someone, I just ask a question to the stream. The computer decides who's screen the question shows up on. The old way? I'd pick a human friend, who was probably busy, and bother them with the question. Now? I let those who are craving connection to reach out and answer the question. Now we can ponder deeper questions, and not worry: who will want to hear from me? Usually, this gets the question answered much faster -- because I'm asking many instead of one.
A computer keeps track of who wants to hear from me. In the old days? I'd need a rolodex or a secretary or I'd need to keep a whole bunch of people in my mind. Now? I have software that keeps track of who wants to hear from me. I gather permission using a computer, the human on the other end gives permission. Neither of us needs to worry too much about this process, a computer handles everything behind the scene. The computer is invisible.
My experience of the computers in our lives is that they want to be invisible. My Macbook Air is disappearing in front of me. It wants to just be the minimum of what I need to connect with it. If it was a keyboard that projected out of my chest onto the table in front of me, it'd do it's job better.
The technology can do the job better. So, I let it.