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The hip bone has millions of transistors in it
By sparky | May 5, 2009
Health practitioners learn anatomy; IT practitioners learn computer architecture
This was part of the opening line that my Computer Systems lecturer began with.
Too many times people don’t understand the problems they’re having, or experiencing. They may see the symptoms, but can’t actually work out what is the cause of them.
Back when I worked in a Helpdesk & Support role, I’d often get phone calls saying “I can’t connect to the internet – is it down?”. On occasion, it was accurate that the fault lay with the proxy server, or the internet connection itself; however, up to a quarter of the time it was simply because the wireless switch that was on the front of the notebooks being used by the staff, had been switched off.
It is possible to understand – and even expect – that the average end user does not know how their wireless works, or how to increase the systems virtual memory (For those playing in the Windows world).
The bare minimum one would hope is that they know that there is a switch that turns the wireless on and off – just like a car has a switch to turn the lights on and off.
Many geeks out there have a fascination with Science Fiction writings, television shows, and films. This isn’t a ‘given’, but it’s a natural part of being interested with computers, science and technology. These artistic representations talk about and deal with elements that appeal to these individuals.
In a discussion with a fellow systems administrator once, he noted that as time goes on, the things that are once taught at the higher academic levels, becomes more ‘common knowledge’, so that the learning becomes more and more complex.
This would appear to be true – to a point.
In the case of my course, we went back to the very basic level of computer architecture; looking at how computers developed from simple counting machines, through to the theorising of ‘logic’, which resulted in boolean algebra – and with the transistor, allowed for the creation of logic gates for circuit design and construction…
And all this is very important, because you need to know and understand where you’ve come from, to know where you currently are, and where you are heading – or may end up.
It appears not everyone in society feels this way.
There’s no denying that people have it easy these days – speaking of course for the ‘Westernised’ world here. As a result of that ease, they no longer thing or struggle with certain concepts. They live their lives day-to-day, getting by, doing their work, and then go home, do whatever, and then get up and continue the cycle. There doesn’t appear to be that ‘thirst for knowledge’ or wanting to understand how or why things are done. People seem to just accept it.
A large part of this would defintely be a personality trait; and it would be what makes people like us (the writers on this blog, and various others in the computer field) the way we are. It’s knowing that through learning and understanding we can increase our ‘usefullness’, putting us in better positions to help others – which is often an intrinsic part of our makeup – and ultimately, slowly allowing the change in society to happen.
If only there was a way to get others interested – but perhaps they wont, because they have no need. “The path of least resistance” is too often the one that is chosen.
Truely a testament to how lazy our society has become!
Topics: Evironment, General | 1 Comment »
May 11th, 2009 at 8:27 am
It’s the same thing with cars though. The number of times I’ve hopped in, or been driving, someone elses car and I’ve immediately gone and pushed the button to de-mist the windscreen, or rear window, or turned on the cruise, or dimmed the console lights, or some other basic function, and had them exclaim “Oh! I didn’t know you could do that!” – and this is their OWN car that I’ve only been in for a few minutes. You ask them how a car actually WORKS and most people have no idea.
Your story also reminds me of another doctor story. A young man goes into a doctors room, complaining of a sore shoulder. The doctor pushes him in the shoulder gently and asks if it hurts, and the patient says “Actually, no not any more”. Then he pokes it, and it starts hurting again.
So, the doctor asks the patient to push his knee. Does that hurt? Yes. How about the elbow on your other arm – does that hurt? Yes, it does. The patient is getting more and more confused about how his pain is moving from place to place.
The doctor, however, realises the obvious truth: he has a broken finger.