Article April 19, 1975 Issue

True Individuality Is Not Computerized

ANDREW KENNETH CLINE

The technological advances of recent years, which include the development of computers and the increasing tendency to identify everyone by number, are facets of the human environment which, if not properly viewed, might tend to erode our sense of spiritual individuality. Such developments may present problems to the unwary by arguing the absorption of individuality into a nebulous, faceless crowd.

Recently I had the opportunity of visiting the very large computer center at a university. When, to illustrate the capacity of these machines, my guide programmed a computer with a system for winning at roulette, I was impressed by the rapidity of the computation process. Quickly it pointed out the very high loss-to-gain ratio of the game, clearly showing that the odds were decidedly against the player's chances of winning. Also, the computer appeared to have unlimited ability to store massive quantities of information in its memory bank, to draw from that bank almost instantaneously any bit of information, and even to advise answers to properly related questions.

The guide pointed out that personal information could be stored in such a device and that this would, in effect, catalog people. For example, they might be classified by certain characteristics—perhaps shortcomings of a long distant past. The field of application seemed limited only by the imagination of the programmer.

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