The Information Machine or Creative Man and the Data Processor (1958, sound)

foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] ever since the time when man began to control his environment he has been plagued by his limited ability to speculate thank you is failure to accurately predict the effect and the consequences of his proposed actions [Applause] this is the result of his not being able to consider and relate all the factors in a problem evidence of this inability can be seen in the Persistence of a certain kind of myth involving peace in a frantic effort to reap immediate Rewards [Music] the first fish is often not too wise the second usually tends to over correct our hero can consider himself lucky if after the Last Wish he ends up just where he started but there were men whose wishes were not only prudent but had a habit of coming true these men and women were artists and had certain characteristics in common they were seldom bored with anything they were constantly building up stores of information in active memory banks [Music] when confronted with a specific need they would call on these memory banks for information which they would run through sort out and relate to the problem at hand these men could speculate and could predict they were artists artists in many fields architecture mechanics Medicine Science politics and the Art of relating factors it is often not a conscious art and the degree to which it is operative can tend to make one normal bright super bright or genius numbers were used to count but soon they were also being used as abstract symbols for states of being values were given to mass speed inertia and the forces of gravity such measurement was an enormous help to creative thinking man was learning to numerically relate and to predict theories were developed by which the many factors in a problem could be numerically related but the magnitude of the calculations necessary made many such theories impractical in the last century the complications of our society have been compounding themselves and it began to look as though the science of numerical relationships could never catch up for a long time in the world of numbers man has been developing tools to help him handle increasing amounts of data how emerged that might make even our most elegant theories workable the recent acceleration has been fantastic the electronic calculator has already become a tool upon which much of our daily activities depend a tool which has broadened the range of man's Concepts and intuition much the way other tools have broadened man's range of communications or man's range of travel or the phenomenal range of his control over environment with the computer as with any tool the concept and direction must come from the man the task that is set and the data that is given must be man's decision and his responsibility this is information the proper use of it can bring a new dignity to mankind properly related it can maintain a balance between man's needs and his resources in many aspects these are information machines capable of storing processing and relating a vast quantity of information they process information so that it can be made meaningful at the human scale computers are generally used in any of three ways first as a control or balance second as a function of design third as a simulation or model of life where we can see the effect before taking the action as a control or balance the calculator keeps our complicated systems functioning it determines the logistics of raw material its inventory and flow history and performance of tools and of personnel production rate and quality Public Utilities rates and Flow Costa County billing and all the ramifications of insurance and in addition presents the broadest possible basis for making decisions as a function of design the calculator provides creative man a higher platform upon which to stand and from which to work data processing removes the drudgery but imposes new and Broad responsibilities the designer must be able to State precisely what it is he needs to know this is not always so easy he must formulate a general plan of procedure this plan or program takes the greater part of all the time involved he must write a concise step-by-step list of instructions owed and feed it to the computer then he must provide the machine with all pertinent background information and related data the preparation may have taken months the actual calculation hours or even minutes but once set up it can attack the problem with infinite variations and trustworthy memory perhaps the most challenging use of the computer is the simulation of real situations if for example a machine is properly programmed and is provided with sufficient numerical data concerning a chemical plant then the computer begins to take on the functions of a working mathematical model of that chemical plant in which it is possible to determine the probable effects of many possible courses of action explosive railroad systems rocket engines complete reactors and whole living communities the calculator is helping to Define society's most complicated problems it is a tool for turning inspiration into fruitful prediction as an information machine it has done much to broaden the base of our growing Concepts but the real Miracle is the promise that there will also be room for those smallest details that have been the basis for man's most rewarding wishes this is a story of a technique in the service of mankind foreign