Torch, Summer 1984

The Battle for the Computer by Gary Percesepe T here is a subtle war being waged as to the meaning and signifi– cance of the computer. The outcomes of this conflict will largely influence the ways computers will be used in our world. Unfortunately, few Chris– tians recognize the existence of any war. This conflict focuses on the status of human values in a tech– nological era. Many, including large computer corporations, would have us believe that there is nothing to fear - com– puters are mere tools, value-neutral machines that function in accordance with the way in which they are prog– rammed . 8 The time has come when I find myself compelled to speak to this issue. I am convinced that computers are indeed (1) a value-expressive technology and (2) an intelligence form. There is no such thing as a "moral vacuum." If Christian values do not determine the meaning and usage of the computer and related forms of technology, other values will. Most of us are quite mystified by computers and by the language in which programs are written . It is pre– cisely this "mystical" atmosphere which I believe needs to be "demys– tified ." So let us reflect first of all on the essence of technology . If we do this in a careful way, we will soon dis– cover that the origins of technology are very close to us indeed, and need not be perceived as a threat to our Christian values, but rather a sub– stantiation of those values . Technology is not new and it has not suddenly appeared with the advent of computers. Rather, tech– nology is prior to computers in the same way that writing predates the science of reading. Many fail to realize that writing is a technology involving the mechani– cal manipulation of signs. The