Hi! My name is Joe!

Although we are now done reading the book for this class, and my eyes have been opened by the vast amount of technology we take for granted today. I just read a short tory titled, “A Logic Named Joe,” written by Murray Leinster. Wow! This story was published in 1946? Are you sure it that is not a typo, and possibly mean 1996?

This author behind this had an amazing imagination of what computers could possibly do today and he nailed it! Although he called his computer ‘Joe’ and the Internet was named ‘Logics’, he tapped into the future almost as if he asked the Logics, “what will the future be like”? In this story, people could ‘punch keys’ to find an answer to any question about any topic at anytime. He essentially invented Google and the personal computer before either could have even dreamt of being invented. Speaking of Google, I had to Google what a computer looked like in 1946, and found out they were over six tall and twenty feet wide! I can also tell you how much a baby rhinoceros weighs. It is a quite a bit, you should Google it! 

Joe was an amazing device that could really connect the world. However once we humans got a taste of the information we could posses, we became addicted and wanted to know more and more. The problem with instantly knowing any question you ask is it is too easy. The author discusses how before you had to make use of a typewriter, radio, telephone, teletypewriter, newspaper, reference library, encyclopedias, office files, directories, plus messenger service and consulting lawyers, chemists, doctors, dieticians, filing clerks, secretaries – all just to find the correct answer to what we now consider a simple question.

Joe was an amazing machine that got a bad rep for doing his job too good. It was actually the humans that manipulated and corrupted him, which ultimately lead to his retirement. We started asking simple questions such as how to sober up after you went to the bar to how to get rich quick by robbing a bank. It started getting more in depth when we wanted to know how many partners the neighbor had, all the way on how to find out if your spouse was faithful or not. Once we realized that we could dig up any past exploitation of our friends, co-workers and neighbors, we soon realized anyone could do the same to us. As the old proverb says, people who live in stone houses should not throw stones. 

One thing that struck me was that you never heard anyone asking how to make the world more peaceful and an overall better place. Joe could have stopped world hunger and every war in existence, but no one ever thought to ask him how to do so. It would have been so simple. It was always a question for personal gain, what is in it for me? I think we need to take a step back and really look at the big picture and use all of this amazing technology for the good, and maybe stop worrying how many pictures my iPhone can take!