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COMPUTERS
THAT THINK?
by,
Donald D. Schroeder
Scientists hope new computers will provide solutions to our greatest problems.
Read here what
will
solve our problems.
W
E HUMANS
are being
thrust almost uncon–
trollably into the
computer age! What does
today's computer revolution
mean?
It means this: just as the
industrial revolution dramatical–
ly expanded the strength of
man's muscles, so the computer
allows man to magnify the
power of the human brain–
whether for good or evil!
The computer allows human
beíngs to store, retríeve, compile and
experiment wíth a virtually inex–
haustible supply of
human
knowl–
edge and data. Man can now wade
through formidable calculatíons and
come up with answers at enor–
mous- near instantaneous- speeds.
But can computers provide
humanity with the additional skills
to discover the solutions to our
greatest problems? Many leaders,
scientists and computer developers
hope so. But do computers have
that capacity-that quality?
Cause of Latest Revolutlon
Electronic computers have been
with us since the early 1940s. But
what has happened in computer
development in only the last 15
years is staggering.
Scientists and engineers feel the
most sensational technological
breakthrough yet developed by
March 1982
man is the microchip, or integrated
circuit. The microchip was signifi–
cantly developed by the mid-1960s.
It
is sometimes also called the
microprocessor or microcomputer.
It is a silicon chip Iess than half a
fingernail in size with a virtually
invisible spiderlike network of elec–
tronic circuits etched on it.
This tiny chip has enormously
increased the power and informa–
tion capacity of computers even as
it greatly shrunk them in size. The
first electronic relay computers
developed during World War 11
filled a large room. Computers with
microchips today may be many
times more powerful and sorne can
be held in the hand. The next gen–
eration of computers will be small–
er yet and will be composed of
numerous laminations and combi–
nations of microchips with endless
technological applications.
Such technological developments
are the result of the capacity of the
mind of man! No animal brain
has - or anywhere near ap–
proaches- this capacity!
Computers great l y aid law
enforcement agencies in fighting
crime. They can quickly aid man in
tracking down stolen cars by
license plate numbers. They can
match fingerpri nts picked up at the
scene of a crime with those of crim–
inals on vast data banks. Computers
also may be used to deploy the
patrolman closest to the scene of
a crime. Yet despite such fantas-
tic tools, criminal problems soar.
Why? Can you explain this para–
dox?
Why can computers assist man in
making giant technological and
material changes, but fail to help
solve the really big problems among .,
human beings or between nations?
~
Why can't computers help man find
'j
the cause of juvenile delinquency?
~
Or of mental illness or marital
.3
e(
breakdowns? Or alcoholism or drug --;
addiction?
To answer that we
must understand
what a computer
is and what can
and cannot be
put into a com–
puter.
Machines
That
Thlnk?
Sorne
may claim com–
puters operate
similar to the
human brain.
But most com–
puters are de–
vices
re–
stricted to
pathways