minow@decvax.UUCP (Martin Minow) (01/06/84)
The following might be appreciated by discussants of programming
superstition.
Martin Minow
decvax!minow
From the ACM Greater Boston Chapter Newsletter, November 1981:
Papua New Guinea Cargo Cult and
Boston Computer Cargo Cult Compared
by George Ballester
According to current estimates, human beings have existed on earth some
100,000 years, of which 90,000 years was spent in hunting and gathering
societies. Organized agriculture has existed for about 10,000 years.
It is almost 400 years since the Scientific Revolution. Industrial
manufacture has been with us for only 200 years. The last 10 years have
been labeled the Computer Revolution. If our brains/minds have been
formed and are still being formed by evolutionary processes, these time
spans suggest that what is labeled the primitive brain/mind is still
very much with us. We talk loudly about logic and the scientific
methods, but we live very much with myth and magic. It is not that
logic has replaced myth and that scientific method has replaced magic.
Rather, myth and magic have reached such a level of sophistication that
we label them "logic" and "scientific method." Myth and magic are
extremely powerful influences in our lives. The power of myth is that
it provides a conceptual model, be it pictorial or verbal, that allows
its believers to handle real contradictions in the world. The power of
magic is that although we are forever ignorant of what lies behind
observable phenomena, we are able to manipulate the world somehow
through technology, be it primitive technology or high technology.
It seems to me that the way many office workers in Boston handle the
arrival of the office computer is reminiscent of the way many native
people in Papua, New Guinea handle the arrival of First World science
and technology, which includes computers.
Native people in Papua, New Guinea are faced with the real contradiction
of a tribal society infused with primitive technology, myth, and magic
that is rapidly receiving high technology. How does one adjust to a
world that includes shrunked heads, cannibalism, tribal wars, cars,
airplanes, and computers? Many native people handle the contradiction
with a myth called Cargo Cult.
Office workers in Boston are faced with the real contradiction of an
office (a mini-society or tribe) infused with pre-computer human skills
that is rapidly receiving high technology, known as the automated
office. How does one adjust to a world that includes affections, fears,
and hopes of human beings and data communications through computers?
Many office workers handle this contradiction with a myth that I call
Computer Cargo Cult.
The average native person in Papua, New Guinea has never seen a factory,
an engineering corporation, or a scientific laboratory. He has seen
Europeans do little work, yet ships and airplanes arrive bringing cargo
-- guns, radios, home appliances, cars, etc. He knows that native
people work very hard, yet get little or nothing. He theorizes that the
Europeans have "Magic for Think," probably in the Bible, that is used to
get cargo from God, who makes it. Heaven is pictured as a large
European house with an adjoining warehouse on a cloud over Sydney,
Australia. The door is always open; you are always welcome. The
angels do the cooking, the food is terrific, the bar is always open, and
the food and drink is free. When supplies run low, God makes more
cargo. Jesus uses a helicopter -- eggbeaterflyingJesus -- to ferry the
cargo to the docks and airports of Sydney. The crates originally have
both native and European names on them, but the Europeans erase the
native names. Jesus was crucified because he was about to reveal the
cargo secret. To the Papua, New Guinea native person who believes in
Cargo Cult, machines originate with God. Machines can be obtained
through magic. Machines are magical black-boxes. The free-vending
machine is the model for all machines. Machines give the native person
great prestige -- transform him into the beautiful person, the European.
Animism and utilitarianism are combined; machines have emotions, a
puckish sense of humor, and a social class -- the divine. The best
machines are easy to operate, make all the decisions, and do all the
work, freeing humans for a life of luxury. Although villages need
appropriate technology -- potato-peeling machines, small pumps for
wells, etc., native people want "Big Magic" -- canned food, radios,
cars, airplanes, computers, nuclear reactors, the Concorde, etc.
Many office workers mistake the CRT for the computer. One types in the
magical entries, and a report appears. Learning to use the office
computer is not emotionally unlike training to be the sorcerer's
apprentice in bygone ages. The computer adds great prestige to jobs.
The computer is discussed as if it is only a high-speed moron who does
routine tasks quickly and well. This is self-psychotherapy to deal with
genuine human fears that the computer could think better than humans,
provoking a serious identity crisis. The office computer is discussed
as if it has the up-and-down emotions of a manic depressive, a morbid
sense of humor, and the social class of the user. No office worker
could build or puchase a large computer. Computers are obtained from
mysterious computer laboratories. User-friendly computers will be
simple to operate, take over human responsibilities in decision-making,
and do all the work.
In conclusion, it is apparent that there are similarities between Cargo
Cult in Papua, New Guinea and Computer Cargo Cult in Boston. Both myths
handle real contradictions in the world. Papua, New Guinea Cargo Cult
handles the contradiction of a society with primitive technology and
high technology. Boston Computer Cargo Cult handles the contradiction
of an office with pre-computer human skills and computers. Believers of
these myths see themselves as being very empirical. Given the time
spans of human and evolutionary processes, it is not surprising how
similar Papua, New Guinea Cargo Cult and Boston Computer Cargo Cult are.
In Papua, New Guinea, the native cultures are very resilient and
pervasive. They have absorbed all conquerers. Successful churches need
both crucifixes and sorcery masks. Cargo Cult affects greatly the
teaching of science and technology, the running of businesses, and
government science and technology policy. The University of Papua, New
Guinea was built on land-fill in what was originally a prehistoric
swamp. In fact, and perhaps in allegory, the corner of the Chemistry
building is sinking into the swamp. Perhaps Boston Computer Cargo Cult
will be just as pervasive and resilient.