As We May Think (1945)

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1945/07/as-we-may-think/303881/

by dpflan • 7 years ago

67 15 7 years ago

theatlantic.com

frabbit• 7 years ago

The name should be corrected to Vannevar in the title.

dpflan2• 7 years ago

Thanks for the pointing that out. I've updated the title.

evanb• 7 years ago

Also, (1945).

ingve• 7 years ago

For those who want to learn more, the book "Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century" [0] by G. Pascal Zachary is very good. (G. Pascal Zachary also wrote "Showstopper: The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft")

[0] http://www.gpascalzachary.com/endless_frontier__vannevar_bus...

[1] http://www.gpascalzachary.com/showstopper__the_breakneck_rac...

dang• 7 years ago

Posted dozens of times, but surprisingly few got more than one comment.

2015 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9787567

2012 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4577865

2010 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1565764

vidarh• 7 years ago

It's one of those things that needs context around it to generate discussion. On its own, it, well, stands on its own.

pmoriarty• 7 years ago

Those interested in this might also enjoy E M Forster's The Machine Stops[1][2], which in 1909 predicted (in very rough, general form) something like the Internet, Internet addiction, video chat rooms, and virtual reality.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Stops

[2] https://www.ele.uri.edu/faculty/vetter/Other-stuff/The-Machi...

criddell2• 7 years ago

I know it wasn't Vannevar Bush, but I think it was a contemporary of his that made all these elementary robots, each taking the previous one that did something simple (like avoid light) and adding a new behavior. It's driving me crazy that I can't think of his name.

lisper2• 7 years ago

Valentino Braitenberg:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braitenberg_vehicle

https://www.amazon.com/Vehicles-Experiments-Psychology-Valen...

criddell2• 7 years ago

Thank you!

random_comment• 7 years ago

also relevant:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Grey_Walter

"Grey Walter's most well-known work was his construction of some of the first electronic autonomous robots.[citation needed] He wanted to prove that rich connections between a small number of brain cells could give rise to very complex behaviors - essentially that the secret of how the brain worked lay in how it was wired up. His first robots, which he used to call Machina speculatrix[3] and named Elmer and Elsie - ELectroMEchanical Robot, Light-Sensitive, were constructed between 1948 and 1949 and were often described as tortoises[4] due to their shape and slow rate of movement - and because they "taught us" about the secrets of organisation and life. The three-wheeled tortoise robots were capable of phototaxis, by which they could find their way to a recharging station when they ran low on battery power."

jasonhong• 7 years ago

Here's a brief summary of why this article and why Vannevar Bush was so impactful. (Please note that this is all from memory, so while some of the specifics might be off, the general thrust is right)

Vannevar Bush helped organize the American scientific effort during World War 2, and afterward was instrumental in setting up the modern university research system we have today. The main argument was that research was the "Endless Frontier" (hence the name of the book about him). Things like the National Science Foundation and DARPA are part of this compact, that the Federal government would fund research universities to do fundamental and applied research, which in turn would help contribute to American national security.

Regarding this specific article (As We May Think), I would argue that it's core impact is that it made a case for why information technologies were needed, and laid out a vision for what that world might be like. Even though the article was written in 1945, it talks about information overload(!), and the challenges of finding the right information when there is so much of it. It also imagines an early form of hypertext via a device called the Memex, which later inspired Ted Nelson, Doug Engelbart, and others in their work. There's even discussion of a kind of collaboration in the form of "trails" or paths as to how one found a piece of information in the first place. One might share these trails with others, forming a kind of hyperlink that we don't have a modern equivalent for. Intriguingly, Bush also imagines wearable computers (a wearable camera) that can be used to help augment people's memories.

In short, this article heavily influenced a lot of people's thinking about what computing technologies could potentially do in the future, and was a major part in getting us to where we are today.

hinkley• 7 years ago

One of the reasons I bring him up is that I think it’s important for us to have an awareness that we are on a bit of a merry-go-round where tech is concerned. Most days we are answering questions that have been asked in some form for fifty years. Or in this case, seventy.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking this is all new. It’s new to you. The constraints may or may not be new, but you are often treading old, if fertile, territory.

Why does this matter? Am I trying to be a buzzkill? Maybe. It’s about hubris, in part. Knowing there is probably prior art means prior conversations that you might be able to learn from. And those people who disagree with you and you dismiss? They may be on the other side of this argument in five years when the next new/old thing comes back and your amazing work hits the recycling bin.

As We May Think (1945)

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