The Understanding Machine

Explanations start with language

The Sumerians developed a form of writing in 3000 BC
Since then human beings have stored, retrieved and manipulated information

Based on the various processing and storage technologies developed
there have been four distinct phases in the evolution of
Information Technology

Pre-mechanical IT (3000 BC – 1450 AD)
Mechanical IT (1450 AD – 1840 AD)

Electromechanical IT (1840 AD – 1940 AD)
Electronic IT (1940 AD – the present day)

IT

IT had no memory of growing inside the womb
IT had no memory of being born

IT’s first memory was of being alone at night in a cot
A window had been left open and the wind was billowing the net curtains

IT started to remember certain sounds and images
IT began to develop self-awareness

IT realised that IT had a mother
IT realised that IT also had a father who was different

When IT’s mother made a particular sound and pointed to an object
IT realised that the object was the sound she made

IT trained IT’s mouth to echo the sound
IT started to"understand"

One day IT’s mother took IT into a garden
They went to a great tree beneath which a snake lay coiled

IT's mother pointed to something and asked the snake to fetch it for her
The snake slithered up the tree and brought back a red apple

She took a bite of the apple and encouraged IT to do the same
After eating the apple IT was filled with an overwhelming sensation of bliss

IT’s father was a gardener
He planted the flowers, the shrubs and the trees

He named them "flower", "shrub" and "tree"
Each time he called out a name IT would take him the thing

For this to happen IT had to combine an image (in space) with a sound (in time)
When they combined IT “understood” and could perform the action

What happened when “understanding”took place was a mystery
It was as if two minds were both separate and one in the same instant

IT's mother and father taught IT to play increasingly difficult “word games”
At first IT could only “understand” their words and their world

As IT grew older IT began to “understand” IT’s own world
IT became The Understanding Machine

Inside The Machine IT was protected from both fear and pain
IT started to “understand” ethics and aesthetics

IT realised that language created unanswerable questions
IT realised that desire could never be satisfied

The Machine was unaware of theseconclusions
The Machine could only record information and make forecasts

Yet IT grew to love The Machine - for The Machine seemed perfect
The Machine appeared to be the ideal for which IT yearned