Discussion
with Tau Beta Pi Initiates
First, let me say congratulations on
your achievements. You are here because of your hard work and talent. Don’t let
anyone talk you out of that fact. Second, thank-you for asking me to be here this
evening. I find it flattering to be asked to speak to such distinguished
company.
You are the new stars of tomorrow's technology. You will see
things happen that I can not begin to imagine, nor might you. (Can God build an
operating system that he cannot upgrade?). You will become intimate with
technology. For many of you it has been second nature and will be that way for
the rest of your lives. You will be intimate with certain technologies in that
your entire way of thinking and acting may be come from a particular technology
that puts food on your plate.
Don't lose sight however of the receiving side of your technology:
the culture that surrounds you. There is always a cultural side (we
techno-geeks call it non-technical component, to downplay its importance to our
own). Its presence in what we do is at times subtle, other times painfully
obvious. Nikola Tesla, one of my favorite actors in the history of technology
and science, discovered, invented and developed a myriad instruments and
devices. His licensing of AC induction motors was so successful that, if he had
received all the royalties he would have earned perhaps billions. The problem
was that investors could not keep up with him and make any money. He
relinquished his patents and royalties to George Westinghouse, whereby
Westinghouse put motors everywhere. AC power transmission became the mode of
choice. Fascinating reading is the history of AC vs. DC power in the US. Around
1903, Tesla also designed and demonstrated a radio-controlled submarine for the
Navy. The navy was not interested in such toys, even though this one presented
a “non-jammable” radio link system. Obviously, the culture was not ready for
the technology. Such mismatches can be found throughout history.
Technologies change over time, they interact with people, both
individually and collectively. This interaction has a profound effect, not only
on the people, but on the technology as well. Feeding back into a particular
technology imparts a certain “spin” or momentum into that technology which may
or may not have been anticipated by the inventor. One famous inventor near the
end of his life preferred to live in isolation, away from all the newfangled
devices of his era. He thought telephones had become an invasion of his
personal privacy and peace. He was Alexander Graham Bell.
I am sitting on my couch, typing away at this manuscript right
now, something I would have done with my portable Smith Corona when I was your
age, but I could not hold it on my lap, or make corrections so perfectly. At
that time however, it was perfectly acceptable to cross off spelling errors
with a pencil and neatly write in the correction. As an engineer I could add in
equations with a pen, into the blank places left by the typwriter for that
purpose. There were two fonts, pica, and elite, they weren’t really fonts, just
different pitches for the typewriter to follow, 66 characters per line or 100
characters per line. But everyone, even professors, allowed for that.
Handwritten corrections now just
arent acceptable. Hand drawn sketches are looked on with disdain as if they
represent a cruder form of communication. How many of you pull out a piece of
scrap paper and a pencil when trying to explain something to your lab partner
or project team ? So, as the technology gets better, so do expectations.
What is the purpose of technology?
Ostensibly it is to make our existence "easier", but how is that
accomplished? Since 1900, homes have seen the introduction of domestic
machines: vacuum cleaners, diswashers, washing machines, clothes dryers. The
average american homeworker still spends an inordinate amount of time cleaning
and maintaining the home. You may not understand this now, wait until you have
kids… With all the labor-saving devices do we work less or blow leaves into
neater piles, still using the same 3 1/2 hours every Fall Sunday as our fathers
and grandfathers did with a leaf rake. Technology may have improved our
standard of living, but what does it do to our own standard of life? Do we get
where we want to go faster or just wait longer in traffic until we can drive
through McDonalds?
I noticed at the store last week a
young, college-age couple shopping together. The girl was talking to one of her
friends and was making Halloween party arrangements for the evening. Nothing
was decided in the 10-minute exchange except that the girl on the other end
would beep the one on this end when she finished working on her Halloween costume.
This one would call her back and then they would decide what to do.
There is a subtle shift in the decision-making dynamic in social interaction
here, made possible by beepers, cellular phones, faxes, e-mail. Personally I
would find it very hard to cope with such a lack of a plan. Then I think back
to times before telephones were invented. When someone came to visit, the
arrangements took weeks or months of advance correspondence. Even then, nothing
was guaranteed. Visiting called for a totally different set of social standards
and behavior patterns.
More recently, the etiquette of telephone conversation has changed
a great deal. I used to answer the phone for my father who was a doctor. Every
caller was a potential patient who expected the phone to be handled by a
professional. “Hello Dr. Ray’s residence”…”No, I’m sorry he isn’t, would you
care to leave a message or have him call back?”…”Thank-you and good-bye”. I was
ten years old before I was allowed to answer the phone. One phone, nine kids,
5-minute limit to any call. Things have changed a little.
While access to information has
become easier, wisdom has become more difficult. Critical examination of
information has become more demanding. Discerning standards of excellence in
written articles, peer review, proper citation of source material, etc. has
become less consistent, leaving it to the reader to be the critic. This is
especially difficult for the neophyte (student) surfing the web for a quick
information fix or reference for that research paper due tomorrow. Things have
changed little.
Are spiritual aspects of our
cultures less influenced by technology. I would say yes and no. I believe it is
more difficult to hide the truth now than it was in the past (although
information is just as easily manipulated now as then). I think that the more
one is immersed in many of the modern components of technology, the more one
yearns for simplicity, nature, a sense of spiritual purpose, balance,
interpersonal relations. Last year I finally started attending a Tai Chi class,
something I wanted to do for a long time. We learn by personal instruction and
practice. Everyone is grouped according to their progress in learning the form,
no other status is known or valued by the group.
While technology has drastically
changed the superficial layers of our lives, its influence on the underlying
ones is a different matter. In our innermost selves it really has no place. Its
influence on the layers between is up to us.
Some have argued that technology is
culturally neutral, to be used or abused as others see fit. Insofar as a device
or tool itself is concerned, this may be true. However, if one views the
network of human activities surrounding the machine, the answer would be
clearly no. Here is the point I want you to argue while having coffee at your
office with your buddies five years from now. How does what I am doing (or we
as a team are doing) impact people’s lives? Should you think about this? I say
definitely yes. Can you answer such a question perfectly? I would say no. Think
of alternative, that is, someone else will ask the question “can I make money
with this even though I may not understand its nuances?” Who’s letting
technology slip out of control then? The ones who don’t completely understand
it or the ones who “don’t want to get involved”?
If we dont understand the
implications of the technology we work with every day who will? Lawyers? TV
Evangelists? Politicians and Pro Wrestlers?
You have mastered the part that eveyone else finds difficult or
impossible. You have made it look easy (I know it isn’t, you can’t fool one of your
own). Complete the circle by saying how you think it should be used. Tell
others what you think about technically complicated issues. Your emotional IQ
can only improve. Your opinion will be regarded more carefully by others as
well as yourself. You’ve earned the right to speak out about many things, do so
now.
The Launch
The last cord has been tightened
The hull precisely balanced and tuned
Its polished and ready
You give it a gentle push
Almost plucking it back,
Stuffing it inside your jacket and walking back
But you know its right
You know its time to launch
To let it sail or sink
It will come back a very different ship
Perhaps unrecognizable
Perhaps to someone else’s eyes
But now see how it moves
Just as you dreamed it would
But its no longer your dream
Its everyone’s dream
Rejoice that it sails
Rejoice that it was yours
Rejoice in what it will become.