We are fast building a world in which all of our ordinary everyday devices work in ways understandable only to an expert elite. The term black box is used in science to denote a machine that carries out a familiar function but whose inner workings are completely unknown. The average person is now living in a world of black boxes.
I recently heard a British farmer interviewed on radio about the advantages of a new milking robot he had installed on his farm.
This robot is a computer-controlled high-technology machine which automatically milks the cows with the absolute minimum need of human intervention. Three milkings a day are achieved and the idea is to greatly improve milk yields. However, the downside, not mentioned on the programme, is that the detailed working of this technology is understood only by non-farming experts such as electronic engineers and that the use of such technology distances the farmer more and more from his animals and from the cycles of nature. Think of the following familiar devices present in the average home - radio, tv, video recorder, CD player, telephone, microwave oven, personal computer, digital watch, digital calculator, etc. How many people know how any of these devices work? To the average person they are all black boxes.
Let us go back 100 years and look at the familiar technology operating then - steam engines, solid fuel cookers, clockwork clocks, oil-lamps etc. The mechanism of operation of almost all of those devices was readily understood by the average person who consequently felt at home in the world of man-made artefacts. The change-over during the course of this century to a world of black boxes has been dramatic and must produce serious alienation in the general public.
Understanding how a device works enhances your sense of ownership of the device and your sense of control over it. Lack of understanding has the opposite effect. For example, if something goes wrong with your solid fuel cooker, you examine the situation with confidence that you will be able to do something to remedy it.
On the other hand, if the microwave oven breaks down, the average person is unable to do anything to remedy the fault. Our powerlessness to fix any of our modern technological devices magnifies our alienation. We don't feel we own this technology. In a very real sense the technology owns us.
The two basic emotions are love (desire) and fear. We very often fear that which we don't understand. I believe that "technological anxiety" is widespread, albeit not usually consciously expressed as such. This anxiety is probably a major component of the current public concern about the introduction of several new technologies, genetically modified foods and mobile phones.
The sudden widespread introduction on a of the office personal computer to replace the electric typewriter about 20 years ago is an example of my point. This changeover was accompanied by widespread anxieties world-wide that PCs posed a health risk because of the radiations emitted by these new devices.
ALL the hubbub about the health risks of PCs has now disappeared. In my opinion this is mainly because people have grown accustomed to them. What once seemed strange is now a standard item of office equipment.
Of course the average person still has no idea of how the PC works inside. This generates a low level of background anxiety but not enough to erupt into a volcano of publicly-voiced upset.
Every secretary understood the typewriter. The connection between hitting a key and seeing the letter hit the page was obvious. Every secretary could carry out simple repairs to the typewriter and could attempt more complex repairs. When the familiar transparent typewriter was suddenly replaced by a super-duper black box it was too much. Acute anxiety surfaced through the route of least resistance - fear of ill-health effect. Let me say that it is true that PCs do emit electromagnetic radiations which might cause an ill-health effect if one were excessively exposed to them. However, I am unaware of evidence that average ordinary use of PCs poses any health hazard. Modern technology is very powerful. It does much good and it can give great pleasure. Just think of the following examples: the power of the computer, the instant communication world-wide; the diagnostic and therapeutic power of some modern medical devices. It is a great pity that all of this advantage carries a hidden element of alienation.
It does not have to be so. It is not difficult for anyone to understand in a simple way how all of these modern technological devices work.
Perhaps I should devote occasional columns to explaining how various ordinary technologies work.
William Reville is a senior lecturer in Biochemistry and Director of Microscopy at UCC