Things I do with my body will not affect the design of my living children's bodies. They got all my contribution to their physical make-up at conception. Thinking otherwise is sometimes called Lamarckism. Of course, behavior and emotional pathways may be adopted by children as a result of the parents' behavior so that religion, politics and preferences are the sort of things which can be passed along after birth. But childhood takes a long time and we are used to biological evolution showing its effects little by little.
Contrast that with commercial, machine and computer evolution. Especially in today's world of programming, things can change very quickly and basically. In the beginning of modern computing, there used to be 'boards', like pegboards or circuit boards. They were all the same size and could be inserted into a computer interchangeably. If we wanted to change what the machine did, we took the board out and inserted another. Then, the method moved to punched cards. Different punch patterns produced different functions of the machine. Then, we got computer languages, such as COBOL, Fortran and Basic. Now, there are many programming languages, well over 1000 of them.
The general idea is that words or symbols are used to assemble steps in a procedure. The machine uses the code to translate the directions into the desired operation. Of course, if we give the machine different instructions, we get a different procedure, even though the machine looks the same as before.
It is sometimes said that everyone should have some experience programming, since a feeling for the difference between human thinking (often conceptual and visual) and machine completion of directions helps in today's world. I admire the concentration programmers exhibit but I don't enjoy the work I have experienced programming.
As we get more aware of the way minds work, we have a stronger tendency to create change just to keep attention alive. Beyond that, there is a huge competition to machines that are both smarter and more convenient. Also, less expensive, if possible. One of the features of a particular Sony camera is that it won't snap a picture until the human subject smiles. My friend's car won't lock the doors with the wife's purse in the trunk. It balks at what might be locking the user out of the car. Programming could change the duration of the smile required or allow a signal that the owners know there is a key in the trunk and want to doors locked anyway.
Too much change too quickly can make us very grumpy or disoriented. So far, I haven't heard of programmers changing the way my car operates just to keep up my interest in the vehicle but it could probably happen sometime. If OnStar can unlock the doors with a signal from a satellite, the company might someday make a game of which action or series of beeps will start the car this time. Fun!
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
