Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgement to Calculation (Pelican): Amazon.co.uk: Joseph Weizenbaum: Books

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5.0 out of 5 stars Important book about the role of computers in our culture, 10 Jan 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgement to Calculation (Paperback)

This remains one of the best books about the role
of computers in our society, dealing with such
topics as:

(1) How computers, by doing clerical work faster
than human clerks, have enabled established bureaucratic
structures to endure, and therefore the "computer
revolution" has really
been a powerful conservative/reactionary social process.

(2) How huge incomprehensible computer systems come
to tyrannize people (both end users and
maintenance programmers) into submitting to the systems'
irrational behavior, because the known problems cannot be
fixed without risk of making things even worse.

(3) The social responsibility of
technical workers, who generally are myopically focused
on "efficiently" doing whatever they do, without
being concerned about *what* should be being done
and whether what *they* are working on is something which
should be done differently or not be done at all.

This book should be *must* reading for all computer
programmers, computer "scientists", et al., to help
them begin
to think more about the social context of technology,
and begin to aspire to *wisdom* and *responsibility*
commensurate with the social impact of their work.

"Computer Power and Human Reason"
is also well written to be understandable by
lay persons. A wide range of readers
should find it enjoyable,
interesting and thought-provoking.
Thus it can help "Everyman" understand
better the role of computers in our lives.

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5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent bookto help compare present day computing, 22 Sep 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgement to Calculation (Paperback)

By reading this book, gives a good benchmark to compare with present day reality. Easy reading, though dogmatic in parts.An up to date version would be helpful, showing the impact of HCI and psychology. This and programming/both web and object oriented, is the future.Lots of people research HCI , but from a very shallow knowledge base.I'm an expert in HCI, Psychology and Programming, so I believe I'm going to be in a powerful position in the future.I would recommend people to follow this path, and hopefully Weizenbaum will do the same, and write another insightful book.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The Computer Programmer, 9 July 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgement to Calculation (Paperback)

I read parts of this book, thinking highly of it. I thought one particular passage from it, as quoted in Gates by Stepehen Manes and Paul Andrews, particulary stood amid the limelight: [t]he computer programmer . . . is a creator of universes for which alone is the lawgiver. . . .No playwright, no stage director, no emperor, however powerful, has ever exercised such absolute authority to arrange a stage of field a battle and to command such unswervingly dutiful actors or troops.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The aestthetics of computing
An authority in the field of artificial intelligence and computer science in general, Joseph Weizenbaum provides insight in proceedings in that area but mainly warns about what... Read more

Published on 28 Jun 1997

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Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgement to Calculation (Pelican) [Paperback]

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