Covid computer

Most of us are aware that computers are strictly logical machines. Programming them requires a logical application. Programmers cannot write in the language that computers work in and so must use a code which translates their instructions via a translator program.

There are many of these programs in use today and all operate in basically the same way – they transpose the commands of the programmer into a lower level which the computer can understand.

Even so, logic takes precedence – garbage in; garbage out. Humans are not innately logical creatures – we accept other people for what they are with all their faults and make allowances. When we are placed in a situation which is outside our normal experience, we tend to change, adapt.

For many years I was an analyst programmer where I had to analyse a current methodology and adapt it for computer use. I analysed the way things were being done, developed a method of adapting it to be done on a computer and gave the results to a programmer to tell the computer how to do it.

In this position I met a number of programmers, some better than others. It soon became apparent that the really good programmers tended to think and adapt to the parallel world they were working in – their thoughts and actions were the result of them defining an action, determining its consequences and finalising the outcome.

Most people don’t work that way and as a result it was generally agreed that one would never invite a good programmer to a social event. The same type of activity appears to be coming to the fore with young adults who spend excessive periods of time playing computer games – the world they live in is not the same as the world they play in; the rules are different; the accepted mores are different.

Many of these games include fighting, death and destruction. It is accepted that anyone one does not agree with is either wrong or an enemy. In a game situation that is quite acceptable but if those ethics were transposed into our world, they are not. The Chinese government are accepting that excessive gaming can cause anti-social behaviour and are reacting in their inimical way.

It is unfortunate that our Covid situation is forcing many of our young to communicate via gaming on the internet. Maybe we should look more closely at the games available and write more which use the intelligence of the players to explore our planet, develop new ways of using the resources available or interacting with others.

Most of the problems facing us are the result of people trying to force their opinions onto others. Maybe we should learn to accept that other people look at situations and come up with differing resolutions.