The Why

hand

> "Augmentation Principle" `Mind-> Hand-> Software-> NextThing` ! Warning - excessive bullet points and wandering philosophy ahead ! ## Mind -> Hand - The above image source was of famous hand prints in caves. - Early cave dwellers doing early art blew early pigments around their hand, onto the cave wall. - I like to think that they knew their hand was something special - look at that glorious opposable thumb! - It was the physical **manifestation** of their awareness and problem solving. - Don't like that bug? Hand smash! - Hungry? Hand put bugs in mouth until hunger = False. - It was the primary problem solving **tool**, augmenting the mind, limited by physical realities of a hand (ie scale). - We are comfortable measuring by an abundance or an absence. - Problems are typically defined as extremes of either. ## Software - Software (of mind via hand) - Augments mind, transcends hand-tool, has limitations. - Bugs reference from above here :) - We technologists of 2018 CE live in this current-generation manifestation of our _awareness and problem solving_. - We continually refine this ever-less crude tool. - We model our world and our problems with software, crudely, via creation of software **tools**. ## NextThing - The NextThing (aka next-generation manifestation past software, of software) would seemingly involve: - Fundamental change to problem modeling - Fundmentally different looking output/tools created - We might be seeing some early slivers of this. - Example: Concerns over the opaqueness and lack of auditability of narrow AI decision making - Example: Self-training AI, ie [AlphaGo](https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/18/16495548/deepmind-ai-go-alphago-zero-self-taught) - Example: Discussions on the impact of total automation and our concept of self-worth through employment - I think it might have parallels to the ending of the movie [Arrival](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2543164/). ## Summary (finally The WHY) - The radical rate of technology change I've seen excites me, and is a core reason I choose software for my life's work. - I feel lucky to participate in the "NextThing".