The Real World: Computers

Quote Response for In the Beginning . . . Was the Command Line, pp. 43-69

New Idea:

“And-- much more important--what we're buying into is the underlying assumption that metaphors are a good way to deal with the world.” (p.61)

This idea helped me realize that . . .
People are either living their life in a easy and convenient matter or they are going the extra mile and actually learning new information. This quote is a little wordy but the word, buying, helped me figure the quote out a little better. When he said buying I thought about as Americans we are easily conformed into falling into the lazy environment. As technology is getting more and more complex, life is getting easier and easier for us humans. We, as humans, are “buying” into these metaphors which are explanations of intelligent things put on an unintelligent level. In this generation, we have come attached to search engines and cellular devices to do all the thinking for us. Those who are working in the technology field has figured out that the society is going down hill on the intelligent level, so they are creating these metaphors to grab our attention. Instead of grabbing a book to read and researching on certain topic that you are confused about, as Americans we are always trying to find an easier way to find the answers.

Interpretation:

“On the other hand, if you are raised within some specific culture, you end up with a basic set of tools that you can use to think about and understand the world.” (p. 53)

In writing this statement, the author seems to imply that . . .
Technology can be a huge influence on someone’s life. In this quotation, Neal Stephenson is telling us that if someone is brought up by a certain culture or religion then they have something to base their thoughts and ideas on. There is no reason for them to look into someone else because they already have a set of beliefs running through their head. For those who are not raised on any type of culture are not able to fall back onto anything in life, therefore they are more able to go off the deep end because they have no belief in anything. They only know of things they have seen on television or have heard from a friend at school or on the playground. For those who do not have something to believe in growing up, go on in life not understanding the reason why they are even here. They lean towards technology for answers and guidance and technology will fail on that person some time in their life. This person will then get frustrated and feel let down and one again have nothing to fall back on because that’s all they know of, the use of technology.

Tie-In:

“Why are we rejecting explicit word-based interfaces, and embracing graphical or sensorial ones--a trend that accounts for the success of both Microsoft and Disney?” (p. 49)

Tell a detailed story from your personal experience to explain the TIE-IN:
This quote is discussing that in today's society we are more likely to rush home to watch a movie or watch television, rather than pick up a book and start reading. Personally I have always been the one to rush home and turn on the television. Now I don’t have the time to watch television but I have my phone to do many non educational things for me. To be specific, every time I read In the Beginning was the Command Line my head would start hurting because of the amount of brain cells I use to read this book. I have been out of school for a couple years and I did read novels throughout those years but never challenged my brain to do anything. So, whenever I read this book I am always finding myself re-reading parts and even having to write down a good bit of notes to actually train my brain to understand what I have read. Life in the real world outside of educational matters is very rocky, because we are not keeping our brain moving. When our brain relaxes and there is no challenging going on, we forget how to process intelligent things.