Do You Get It?

In class, we discussed whether or not a person should use a particular technology unless he knows how it works. Before the discussion began, I was certain that no one would agree with this position and was surprised when there were quite a few people who truly believe that one should understand the workings of a particular piece of machine before using it.

Despite the discussion in class, I am still not sure as to why people would take this stance. Why should a person have to understand the mechanics behind any technology before using it? What difference would it really make? I use a computer all the day. Despite considering myself computer-literate, I still do not understand what process happens every time I strike a key or how the Internet really works. But does this impede on my ability to use my laptop to write this blog, make a presentation, or send out an email? Absolutely not. Would I be able to do any of these tasks more proficiently if I was fully aware how each one of these things happened? Probably not.

And does this stance hold true with every newer development, or just those with an electronic aspect? What about medicine? Even though I am a pre-med student and have spent years studying the different aspects of science, I am still no where near having the knowledge necessary for truly understanding what chemical process happens every time I take an Aspirin. Does this mean I am wrong for taking this medication even though I do not really know how it works? I certainly do not think so and would like to know how anyone could logically disagree. What if someone is sick and needs antibiotics? Unless he is a pharmacist or a doctor, the chances of him knowing the chemical pathway that is set by antibiotics is very slim. Does this mean he should neglect the drugs because he is not exactly sure of how they work?

And then there was the discussion of what age is appropriate to allow children to start using the computer. The article which was presented to the class said that children under the age of 15 should not be allowed to use the computer for fear that it would confuse or influence them in a negative way. Children should not be allowed to use something before they know how it works. We would not want young children to think of the computer as a magical thing now would we? The way I see it, why not let them think of it any way they want? Children have wild imaginations and probably do not see even the the simplest of things the way an adult does, let alone a complicated machine like a computer. If we do not think it is wise to let children use computers because they do not understand it, then children should also not be allowed to play video games, watch television, ride in a car, or even use the light bulb in their rooms. Technically speaking, they do not know how those work either and they may be just as mystical to kids as the computer. Why limit one technology and not the other if they are all similar in the one main aspect: being too mechanically complicated for children's minds to comprehend.

Perhaps because it is that I am too dependent on so many things in my life whose mechanics I do not understand, but I believe that so long as one knows how to work a machine, it is not nearly so important to realize how that machine works. So long as one can get a machine to perform a task, that is all that matters. What good would it really do wasting time figuring out how my car runs, so long as it gets me to and from my destination?