Thursday, November 29, 2012

Reverse-Anthropomorphic, High-Tech Metaphors On Parade

Follow the link below for an interesting take on the future of Big Data. Lots of good stuff there, but also this gem:

“You and I are streaming data engines.”

Uh huh.  And during the early history of the computer age you and I were information processors. Likewise, during the industrial revolution you and I were thinking machines.  It seems that regardless of the particular moment in intellectual history, the dominant set of metaphors get applied to explain the essence of humanness. 

In fact, it says here that you can recognize a new era of intellectual history by noticing when a new metaphor of humanness takes root.  When someone starts characterizing humans as “meme vectors,” that’s strong evidence that we’re in the genetics age.

 

Jeff Hawkins Develops a Brainy Big Data Company - NYTimes.com

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