> The mechanistic myth is the belief that
everything can be described as a neat hierarchical
structure of things within things. And few of us
realize that our entire culture is based on this
fallacy. While the world consists of complex,
interacting structures, we prefer to treat every
phenomenon as a simple, isolated structure.
> Through our software pursuits, the mechanistic
myth has spread beyond its academic origins, and
is now affecting every aspect of human existence.
In just one generation, it has expanded from
worthless theories of mind and society (behaviour-
ism, structuralism, universal grammar, etc.) to
worthless concepts in the field of programming
(structured programming, object-oriented pro-
gramming, the relational database model, etc.)
to worthless software-related activities that we
all have to perform.
> What is worse, our mechanistic beliefs have
permitted powerful software elites to arise.
While appearing to help us enjoy the benefits of
software, the elites are in fact preventing us
from creating and using software effectively. By
invoking mechanistic software principles, they are
fostering ignorance in software-related matters
and inducing dependence on their systems.
> Increasingly, in one occupation after another,
all we need to know is how to operate some
software systems that are based on mechanistic
principles. But our minds are capable of non-
mechanistic knowledge. So, when the elites force
us to depend on their software, they exploit us in
two ways: by preventing us from creating better,
non-mechanistic software; and by preventing
us from using the superior, non-mechanistic
capabilities of our minds.
> The ultimate consequence of our mechanistic
culture, then, is the degradation of minds. If we
restrict ourselves to mechanistic performance,
our non-mechanistic capabilities remain un-
developed. The world is becoming more and more
complex, yet we see only its simple, mechanistic
aspects. So we cope perhaps with the mechanistic
problems, but the complex, non-mechanistic ones
remain unsolved, and may eventually destroy us.
Wow, I'm immediately hooked. The book is free online as well to download.
slopinthebag|6 hours ago
> Through our software pursuits, the mechanistic myth has spread beyond its academic origins, and is now affecting every aspect of human existence. In just one generation, it has expanded from worthless theories of mind and society (behaviour- ism, structuralism, universal grammar, etc.) to worthless concepts in the field of programming (structured programming, object-oriented pro- gramming, the relational database model, etc.) to worthless software-related activities that we all have to perform.
> What is worse, our mechanistic beliefs have permitted powerful software elites to arise. While appearing to help us enjoy the benefits of software, the elites are in fact preventing us from creating and using software effectively. By invoking mechanistic software principles, they are fostering ignorance in software-related matters and inducing dependence on their systems.
> Increasingly, in one occupation after another, all we need to know is how to operate some software systems that are based on mechanistic principles. But our minds are capable of non- mechanistic knowledge. So, when the elites force us to depend on their software, they exploit us in two ways: by preventing us from creating better, non-mechanistic software; and by preventing us from using the superior, non-mechanistic capabilities of our minds.
> The ultimate consequence of our mechanistic culture, then, is the degradation of minds. If we restrict ourselves to mechanistic performance, our non-mechanistic capabilities remain un- developed. The world is becoming more and more complex, yet we see only its simple, mechanistic aspects. So we cope perhaps with the mechanistic problems, but the complex, non-mechanistic ones remain unsolved, and may eventually destroy us.
Wow, I'm immediately hooked. The book is free online as well to download.