Steve Talbott

So... the fact that we meet human intentions in our machines is already reason enough for caution. Do we really want all those strivings and contrivings - all those thoughts and assumptions someone has cleverly etched into the hardware and software we are using - to remain invisible? When employing a search engine to sift through news items, should we be content to remain ignorant of the criteria, commercial or otherwise, determining the engine's presentation of hits? When recording a business' numbers on a spreadsheet, should we forget the meanings and values we had in mind when we started the business - meanings and values that the spreadsheet is designed, by virtue of its designer's preoccupation with manipulable data, to put out of sight? This is not to say we don't need the spreadsheet, but we also need to remain aware of the ways it can skew our way of thinking.