Moths to the Flame: The Seductions of Computer Technology - Hardcover

Rawlins, Gregory J. E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262181762 ISBN 13: 9780262181761

Publisher: Bradford Books, 1996

Synopsis

"For two decades now I've been awaiting a book explaining computers and their social consequences to literate readers without using any unnecessary jargon or pedantry—or math. I wanted such a book to lend to all those friends who've pestered me about computers and to all the computer science students who've asked me about computers over the years. I particularly wanted a book that I could buy for my father, who's an accountant of the old school, to explain something of the mysterious world I live in."

Gregory Rawlins, who teaches artificial intelligence at Indiana University, got tired of waiting for that book and decided to write it himself. In Moths to the Flame he takes us on a humorous yet thought-provoking tour of the world wrought by modern technology, a technology, he points out, that is rooted deep inside the military: a technology that when applied to everyday life, may have startling results. Unlike space technology, today's technological race won't simply bring us Tang-flavored Velcro.

Rawlins educates by entertaining. His stories and anecdotes enliven and surprise us while increasing our awareness of technology itself as a player in the political and commercial climate of our times. In our headlong rush toward networked humanity Rawlins raises serious concerns about our future jobs and our future wars: we can figure out what kind of job to get today if we know where technology is taking us tomorrow.

The book's first four chapters explore the worlds of privacy, virtual reality, publishing, and computer networks, while the last four focus on social issues such as warfare, jobs, computer catastrophes, and the future itself. Throughout unusual, eye-opening analogies and historical comparisons—from Egyptian hieroglyphics to the sewing machine to the codebreakers of World War II—give us a context for the computer age, showing how new technologies have always bred intertwined hope and resistance.

Provocative yet balanced and sophisticated, Moths to the Flame is an indispensable guidebook to the future: a Baedeker for the Brave New World.

A Bradford Book

About this title

About the Author

Gregory Rawlins is Associate Professor of Computer Science at Indiana University. He is the author of two texts, one on genetic algorithms and another on the mathematical analysis of computer programs. He is also a noted speaker on issues of electronic publishing.

Reviews

Moths to the Flame is a heady mixture of futuristic prophecy and historical perspective covering all aspects of computer technology, some frightening, some practical, some fanciful. It seems that technology is spinning out of control, though Rawlins reminds us that computers can only reflect the needs and values of their users. He covers the topics of the paperless book, the problems of privacy and censorship and crime and the power computers have over our lives. Computers are already displacing many workers, but human error will always be a factor. "The more complex the system, the harder it is to get it right." He cautions that smart bombs, smart mines and smart weapons are only as "smart" as the humans who develop and control them. Luckily, intelligent lay readers will find that Rawlins, although a professor of computer science mathematics at Indiana University and a specialist in AI, is plenty smart without being obscurantist. Economic effects of such high speed change are also unpredictable and somewhat chilling as are some of Rawlin's 21st-century scenarios. Ultimately, his stance is a cautious one: "Computers won't bring about a better world?perhaps nothing can do that. But they certainly can change the world: in some ways for the better; in others, for the worse."
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In eight essays, Rawlins (Mathematics/Indiana Univ.) speculates on the exciting, scary new world computers are bringing us. In some areas, such as military technology, Rawlins does not expand much on Howard Rheingold's study Virtual Reality (1991). And so much is written these days about the Internet that nothing Rawlins says, startling as it might have been even a year ago, seems surprising today. Rawlins's comments on book publishing, however, offer a fascinating scenario for the next 10 or 20 years. It is now cheaper to produce a book electronically than to print it, and publishers, Rawlins suggests, will soon offer inexpensive subscriptions to their lists of upcoming books, in much the way that the cable TV industry works. Many publishers will resist, as movie producers resisted video, but then will find that they cannot exist without electronic books. All that is needed to set this chain of events in motion is a cheap, user-friendly electronic reader. Rawlins is also insightful on the economics of computers: The frighteningly short cycle of invention and obsolescence, and the manner in which software climbs up the organizational charts, performing ever more complicated and vital functions, eliminating not just typists but executives, too. Careers will turn over and over, and few of us, he suggests, will know with any certainty what the rapidly evolving machines are doing. Rawlins also touches on the most vexing problem of all: the poor. Knowledge, expressed by technology, is power. The numbers of those left out of this equation are growing exponentially. Will the economic benefits of the computer ever trickle downward? Is there any way to avoid the creation of an increasingly small elite controlling access to many of technology's most important uses? Does utopia lie ahead--or endless poverty and war? Such questions have no answers, but Rawlins asks them brilliantly. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Rawlins (computer science mathematics, Indiana Univ.) here offers a unique and easily understood perspective on the Information Age. Using clear analogies and well-documented historical events, he looks at the issues behind such controversies as privacy, cryptography, and the control of information. Drawing on his background in mathematics, genetics, and electronic publishing, he effectively plumbs such diverse and complex topics as virtual reality, publishing, and computer networks. In examining the possible effects of computer technology on society, Rawlins maintains a balanced perspective offering other future scenarios besides those of the "gloom and doom" category or the utopian view of computers as the answer to all the world's problems. Without ever mentioning the Internet or World Wide Web, Rawlins handles most of the issues mentioned in the popular and professional press. This is essential reading for anyone with any interest in the future, namely, all of us. Highly recommended for academic and public libraries.?Wilfred Drew, SUNY at Morrisville Coll. Lib.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Reactionaries have long warned against the dehumanizing effects of technology. But the warning comes with new urgency now that the computer has so evolved that it has taken over many of the intellectual, social, linguistic, and creative endeavors that formerly defined our humanity. It is indeed dehumanization that looms as the most frightening of the dangers Rawlins identifies as he describes the world that computer technology is now rapidly creating. It is a world in which politicians can broadcast virtual-reality propaganda; terrorists can kill or intimidate millions with smart weapons; business moguls can fatten their retirement plans by laying off thousands and turning their jobs over to computerized machines. Yet Rawlins holds out hope that if we develop the computer's capabilities with imagination and daring, we can yet create an empire of the mind in which the human spirit will flourish, not disappear. By helping readers understand the perils--and promise--of the computer, the author brings that ideal empire a step closer to reality. Bryce Christensen

Edition details

• Publisher: Bradford Books
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262181762
• ISBN 13: 9780262181761
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 184