In which we are joined by Ezri of Swampside Chats, to continue our discussion of "Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgement to Calculation" by Joseph Weizenbaum. In this episode we cover the second chapter of the book.
Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation (1976) by Joseph Weizenbaum displays the author's ambivalence towards computer technology and lays out the case that while artificial intelligence may be possible, we should never allow computers to make important decisions because computers will always lack human qualities such as compassion and wisdom.
Weizenbaum makes the crucial distinction between deciding and choosing. Deciding is a computational activity, something that can ultimately be programmed. It is the capacity to choose that ultimately makes one a human being. Choice, however, is the product of judgment, not calculation. Comprehensive human judgment is able to include non-mathematical factors such as emotions. Judgment can compare apples and oranges, and can do so without quantifying each fruit type and then reductively quantifying each to factors necessary for mathematical comparison.
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Links:
091 - Agile and the Long Crisis of Software
B45 - Brain of the Firm, Finale
B44 - Brain of the Firm, Chapter 20, Part 8
B43 - Brain of the Firm, Chapter 20, Part 7
090 - Simulating Socialist Planning
B42 - Brain of the Firm, Chapter 20, Part 6
089 - Designs for the Pluriverse, Part 3
088 - Designs for the Pluriverse, Part 2
B41 - Brain of the Firm, Chapter 20, Part 5
087 - Designs for the Pluriverse, Part 1
B40 - Brain of the Firm, Chapter 20, Part 4
B39 - Brain of the Firm, Chapter 20, Part 3
086 - Vital Cells, Part 2
085 - Vital Cells, Part 1
B38 - Brain of the Firm, Chapter 20, Part 2
B37 - Brain of the Firm, Chapter 20, Part 1
B36 - Brain of the Firm, Chapter 19, Part 3
084 - John Boyd, Part 3: Winning and Losing
B35 - Brain of the Firm, Chapter 19, Part 2
B34 - Brain of the Firm, Chapter 19, Part 1
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