Prompt :Write about your First Computer
” A computer is a device that processes inputs to product outputs. By this definition the brain is a computer because it takes in information and produces outputs.” Quote from Googling The Internet.
The brain takes information and transforms it into something else. So my first computer was my brain and an amazing tool it was and I like to think still is.
However , one figure, stands out in the history of the Computer and she was born in the midst of the hedonism of George the Third ‘s reign she would become a renowned mathematician and the first person to see the potential of a machine converting raw data to something other than it’s component parts ie. not simply a machine for calculation, but a much broader canvas. That person was Ada Lovelace, the only legitimate child of Lord Byron.
Ada Lovelace’s clear concise thinking lead us to the concept of the computer as a clever machine. Dear,Dear Ada was a mathematical genius and was able to see the potential in Babbage’s Analytical Engine and took her place in history as a “Wicked Mathematician.”, but also someone who encouraged others. Not dare I say it someone who wanted to dominate others.
A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then, some of which would be best assigned to a watery grave. Computing has been turned into a megalomaniac , male dominated globally polluting market place reserved for those with big budgets and even bigger egos.
Let’s face it , we have access to amazing information and we can choose to use it for good or for bad and that is what I reckon Ada Lovelace envisaged.
We have lost our way, just as a child’s brain develops and goes from being open minded and questioning to trying to satisfy the demands of the modern world and with that it’s megalomaniac , egotistical entrepreneurs whose goals just aren’t actually clear other than to dominate people, the market or perhaps the World, under the guise of Philanthropy.
Ada knew a fake when she saw it, and in honour of her, although by no means a brilliant thinker, I intend to be a free thinker and my brain , my first computer plays a part in that.
If I lose it , it’s OK , there are plenty more independent , quality thinkers out there and they will always be there, and able to use technology for the good of all. Let Ada be your inspiration.
thenotsomightyom 