Coding up a century..

            One day, people of various professionals gathered together and as always each one was claiming to be better than the other. A doctor majestically stood and spoke about he can take blood samples, examine and determine the gems in them. A mathematician magnetically spoke about how he can find areas of weird shapes and how he knows the exact value of infinity. An air controller bragged on how an aircraft is helpless without him and how he combines atmospheric pressure, wind speed and all other factors to direct a plane. A computer scientist, who was silent the whole time, stood up when everyone else had nothing to say. He then said, “Listen I know you guys have important jobs but my job is quite simple, I make the computer do all that for you.” It’s that simple.

            It’s really that simple. Computer science and hence computer technology is all about flow logic; Using logic to automate almost everything from cooking to making memories. You name it, automatic car transmission, GPS and the like.  If you press a button something will happen, if you don’t nothing will. If you press a different button, something else will happen and so forth; Just a couple of if-else statements that you have power over.

            Speaking of power, before computer technology evolved windows was used on houses, boot meant shoes, run meant actual running, java meant coffee and bug was actual insects. Then came weird technology that totally brainwashed the human brain and redefined the English language.  I think that’s pretty powerful.

            100 years ago, glasses were reserved for eye defected people and most likely intellectuals (who lost their vision reading in dark rooms). Today, glasses are actually really cool gadgets that practically respond like humans. Well, hello 21^st century. Skeptics might say it has made us live in a cyber safe than in the real world. They forget that long distance communication is only possible with the cyber space. They say it makes us stupid, I say it has helped us save our brains for what we are supposed to do; think, not memorize. Technology is like money, it’s not evil as such but it can be used for evil.

            “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”, the writer Arthur Clarke once said that and yes it is magic. Back in the days of Aristotle no one ever imagined era where you could make friends with people on the opposite side of the globe. But it does exist and is upon us, the interesting thing is it is unpredictable. I mean 5 years from now I guarantee you will be surprised. As a computer scientist in the making I say, Change is good, let’s embrace it.