Reading week 4

As We May Think by Vannevar Bush

It is quite strange to read this article, written in 1945, and realise that Bush is discussing technologies we use on a daily basis, and has pretty much predicted the future. Advances in science and innovation in technologies are usually taken for granted by us Gen Y’ers, but it really is amazing how reliable the technology is that we have so openly integrated into our lives.

This quote stood out for me

” For  years  inventions  have  extended  man’s physical  powers  rather  than  the  powers  of  his  mind.  Trip  hammers  that multiply  the  fists,  microscopes  that  sharpen  the  eye,  and  engines  of  destruction and  detection  are  new  results,  but  not  the  end  results,  of  modern  science.  Now, says  Dr.  Bush,  instruments  are  at  hand  which,  if  properly  developed,  will  give man  access  to  and  command  over  the  inherited  knowledge  of  the  ages. “

This is so true of ‘recent’ technology. The internet comes to mind straight away. We are so lucky to have “access to and command over the inherited knowledge of the ages”.

I will often claim “what did I ever do without the internet?!” sure, I was in Primary School and preoccupied with climbing trees and writing in my *physical* diary, but for older people being introduced to the internet must have been like opening a huge door of information. Even though I tend to waste this privilege by watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians online (hardly brain-expanding, but hey, it’s my guilty pleasure), I do appreciate the wealth of information available online.

This also makes me question the future, how can we expand these technologies even further? What else is left to expand of the human experience now that we have covered physical and mental expansion?