WEBVTT Kind: captions; Language: en

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The time when man began to control the
environment, he has been plagued by his

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limited ability to speculate.

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His failure to accurately predict the
effect in the contraposed action.

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This is the result of his not
being able to consider and relate

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all the factors in a problem.

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Evidence of this inability can be seen
in the persistence of a certain kind of

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myth involving three wishes.

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In a frantic effort to reap immediate rewards,
the first wish

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is often not too wise.

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The second usually tends to overcorrect.

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Our hero can consider himself
lucky if after the last wish he

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ends up just where he started.

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But there were men whose
wishes were not only prudent

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but had a habit of coming true.

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These men and women were
artists and had certain

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characteristics in common.

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They were seldom bored with anything.

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They were constantly building up stores
of information in active memory banks.

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When confronted with a specific

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need, they would call on these memory banks
for information, which they would run

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through, sort out,
and relate to the problem at hand.

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These men could speculate and could predict.

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They were artists,
artists in many fields, architecture,

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mechanics, medicine, science, politics,

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and the art of relating factors.

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It is often not a conscious art, and the
degree to which it is operative can tend

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to make one normal, bright, super

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bright, or genius.

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Numbers were used to count,
but soon they were also being used as abstract

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symbols for states of being.

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Values were given to mass, speed,
inertia, and the forces of gravity.

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Such measurement was an enormous
help to creative thinking.

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Man was learning to numerically
relate and to predict.

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Theories were developed by
which the many factors in a

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problem could be numerically related.

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But the magnitude of the
calculations necessary made

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many such theories impractical.

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In the last century, the complications
of our society have been compounding

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themselves, and it began to look
as though the science of numerical

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relationships could never catch up.

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For a long time in the world of numbers,
man has been developing tools to help

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him handle increasing amounts of data.

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Something has now emerged
that might make even our most

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elegant theories workable.

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The recent acceleration has been fantastic.

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The electronic calculator has already
become a tool upon which much of

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our daily activities depend.

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A tool which has broadened the range of
man's concepts and intuition, much the

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way other tools have broadened man's range
of communications, or man's range of

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travel, or the phenomenal range
of his control over environment.

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With the computer, as with any tool,
the concept and direction

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must come from the man.

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The task that is set and the data
that is given must be man's decision

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and his responsibility.

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This is information.

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The proper use of it can bring
a new dignity to mankind.

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Properly related,
it can maintain a balance between

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man's needs and his resources.

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In many aspects, these are information
machines capable of storing, processing,

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and relating a vast quantity of information.

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They process information so that it can
be made meaningful at the human scale.

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Computers are generally
used in any of three ways.

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First, as a control or balance.

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Second, as a function of design.

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Third, as a simulation or model of life,
where we can see the effect

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before taking the action.

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As a control or balance,
the calculator keeps our

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complicated systems functioning.

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It determines the logistics of raw material,
its inventory and flow,

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history and performance of
tools and of personnel,

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production rate and quality,
public utilities rates and flow,

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cost accounting, payroll, billing,
and all the ramifications of insurance.

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And in addition, presents the broadest
possible basis for making decisions.

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As a function of design, the calculator
provides creative man a higher platform

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upon which to stand and from which to work.

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Data processing removes the drudgery but
imposes new and broad responsibilities.

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The designer must be able to state
precisely what it is he needs to know.

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This is not always so easy.

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He must formulate a general plan of procedure.

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This plan or program takes the greater
part of all the time involved.

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He must write a concise step-by-step list
of instructions, translate it into a

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digestible code and feed it to the computer.

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Then he must provide the machine
with all pertinent background

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information and related data.

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The preparation may have taken months,
the actual calculation hours or even

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minutes, but once set up, it can attack
the problem with infinite variations

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and trustworthy memory.

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Perhaps the most challenging
use of the computer is the

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simulation of real situations.

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If, for example, a machine is properly
programmed and is provided with sufficient

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numerical data concerning a chemical plant,
then the computer begins to take on

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the functions of a working mathematical
model of that chemical plant, in which it

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is possible to determine the probable
effects of many possible courses of action.

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Today there are working mathematical models
of railroad systems, rocket engines,

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complete reactors,
and whole living communities.

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The calculator is helping to define
society's most complicated problems.

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It is a tool for turning inspiration
into fruitful prediction.

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As an information machine,
it has done much to broaden the

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base of our growing concepts.

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But the real miracle is the promise
that there will also be room for those

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smallest details that have been the
basis for man's most rewarding wishes.

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This is a story of a technique
in the service of mankind.

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.