Word: thereness
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
What practical jobs can a calculator do? Merely describing its complex problems would require difficult mathematics, but there are some simple examples.
The great new computers, cried Wiener with mingled alarm and triumph, are not mere mathematical tools. They are, he said, harbingers of a whole new science of communication and control, which he promptly named "cybernetics."* The newest machines, Wiener pointed out, already have an extraordinary resemblance to the human brain...
Second Revolution. Such a development, says Wiener, is certain. When it does come, he argues, it will usher in "the second industrial revolution," which will devalue the human brain as the first industrial revolution devalued the human arm. He points out that only a few hand workers can now compete...
The brain's essential parts, says McCulloch, are "neurons" (nerve cells). There are about 10 billion of them, and they are living electrical relays, comparable to the relays and vacuum tubes in the machines. The neurons are intricately connected by fine, often branching fibers, so the whole brain is...
Psychotic Robots. In the larger, "biological" sense, there is room for nervous speculation. Some philosophical worriers suggest that the computers, growing superhumanly intelligent in more & more ways, will develop wills, desires and unpleasant foibles' of their own, as did the famous robots in Capek's R.U.R.