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hypertxt
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FILE54
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1988-02-01
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Do computers have anything to do with thinking?
===============================================
The imagined benefits of the computer, from its initial conception to
today's applications, center on building software to do routine tasks
faster. Doing routine tasks faster is essential in processing data, text,
and numbers supported by the big three in software: databases,
word-editing, and spreadsheet programs.
Yet computer processing (i.e., doing routine tasks faster) is not
particularly significant in the world of thinking (i.e., exploring
representations in your mind). Here's why.
Thinking skills split into two major categories. Computers have
traditionally supported the low-level thinking skills. However, few
programs outside MaxThink and HOUDINI focus on issues using high-level
thinking skills. <FILE62 VALUE OF INFORMATION>
SOFTWARE FOR LOW-LEVEL THINKING
===============================
The low level-thinking skills consist of:
Memory Programs that reduce the need for memory (name
lists, databases, etc.)
Understanding Tutorial, demo, and help files
Application Doing routine tasks faster (following patterns)
such as editing or spreadsheet calculations
<FILE27 SPREADSHEETS>
I don't see application software (spreadsheets, databases, word processors)
as anything more than faster ways to dig potatoes, shovel coal, or pick
cotton <FILE71 PROCESSING> which occupied previous generations. If you
can do routine tasks faster with a computer regardless of your title, pay,
or software; that's a low-level task. Sorry about that . . . speed doesn't
always represent thinking or effectiveness!
SOFTWARE FOR HIGH-LEVEL THINKING
================================
The high-level thinking skills consist of:
Analysis Breaking information down into component parts
Synthesis Assembling existing information in new ways
Evaluation Organizing information by value
The best explanation between these two categories is that low-level
thinking skills work with existing information while high-level thinking
skills create new information. <FILE55 KNOWLEDGE>
Alternately, software emphasizing low-level thinking processes focus on
doing routine (typically single-answer) tasks. In contrast, software for
high-level thinking (such as MaxThink and HOUDINI <FILE26 DESCRIPTION>)
focuses on multi-answer tasks in which finding or defining boundaries and
clarifying relationships are the dominant tasks.
IS HYPERTEXT LOW-LEVEL OR HIGH-LEVEL THINKING?
==============================================
Building hypertext systems <FILE64 HOW TO> definitely requires high-level
thinking processes. But consider this:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ If you use a hypertext system simply for getting rapid answers, │
│ that's low-level thinking. However, if it changes your view of │
│ yourself or your world, then that's high-level thinking. │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
This criteria alone (i.e., changes in your view of yourself or your world)
tells whether you're creating new knowledge or just rehashing existing
data.
Now, you decide how you want to use your computer. Use it to put your mind on
slow-buzz (running processes) or use it to generate new insights. Both
opportunities exist in personal computing. See <FILE46> on insights.
Neil Larson 1/14/88 FILE54
44 Rincon Rd., Kensington, CA 94707
Copyright MaxThink 1988 -- Call 415-428-0104 for permission to reprint