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Loadstar 22
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t.lookin glass 1
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2022-08-26
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THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS:
AN OBSERVER'S NOTEBOOK
by
Jon Barnes
"Cargo Cults"
FIRST, A HISTORY LESSON....
During World War II, an interesting
social experiment took place in the
South Pacific. As American forces
rooted out Japanese installations
island by island, GI's sometimes came
into contact with primitive tribes
that had somehow remained isolated
from the war. Most of these meetings
went well enough, for like their
counterparts in the European Theatre,
these troops treated nonpartisans
well by sharing their rations and
medical supplies.
Mostly, though, the natives were
ignored. But the natives watched the
soldiers with intense curiosity as the
Americans pushed toward their mission
objectives. Especially they watched
when the soldiers radioed for
airlifted supplies.
In the following years, after both
Americans and Japenese had left,
some tribes formed "cargo cults", in
which the natives created elaborate
rituals imitating the actions of the
strange men they had encountered. They
even constucted mock radios out of
bamboo to send their prayers for
"cargo" to their gods. But the great
birds that carried these blessings had
gone, never to return.
Class dismissed. What is the
significance of this historical aside?
For one thing, it serves as an apt
metaphor for my relationship with
computers. For another, it raises the
kinds of questions THROUGH THE
LOOKING GLASS seeks to explore.
TRUE CONFESSIONS....
No matter where I've gone, computers
have been hard on my heels. Yet
somehow, I've always escaped having to
use them. For example, I went to high
school in a rural Arkansas town. The
year after I left, they bought an
Apple to use with the upper level
math and physics students.
While I did take a FORTRAN course in
college, we used card readers, so it
doesn't really count. Standing around
while a two-foot high stack of cards
is read, then waiting around for a
compile from an overworked mainframe
isn't really comparable to using a
personal computer.
I'll state once and for all,
though, that this course had nothing
to do with my changing my major to
English. Right.
But even as a student of the
humanities, computers weren't far
behind. I even wrote a proposal
requesting word processors for the
writing lab where I tutored. Ten IBM
pc's arrived the semester after I
graduated.
I even married a programmer who
sometimes talks about her work. I
listen politely, of course, nod in the
right places, and pray that my eyes
won't glaze like they do when I watch
too much MTV.
But when I came to Loadstar, the
long chase was over. I wasn't
surprised. After all, fate is fate;
Oedipus had to kill Laius at the
crossroads; Faustus had to pay the
Devil his due; Jor-El had to save his
infant son from exploding Krypton.
Fate is hardwired. Working with
computers was my destiny. It is yours
also.
MORE TRUE CONFESSIONS....
Here at Loadstar, I find that my
relationship with computers mirrors
that of those aboriginal electrical
engineers and their bamboo radio sets.
I constantly use computers when
creating the text for Loadstar, yet am
ignorant of most of the concepts
underlying their operation.
Ignorance has its virtues of course.
I'm an invaluable resource for the
programmers; if the program is
user-friendly enough so even I can use
it, they can be sure that any of the
higher mammals can do likewise.
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