Techno-geek rant – The evolution of monkey smarts

People sometimes come to the wrong conclusion about a subject because they base their insight on superficial observations rather than rational deduction.

Take the techno-geeks. A new breed of human has evolved in the computers for the masses era. These humans believe that since they can work a mouse, a keyboard, a cell phone, a PDA, a PSP and an Xbox 360, they are technologically gifted.

That’s a great leap. They fail to realize that the creators of the before mentioned toys have dumbed down the human interface so much that a smart monkey could use them. All that it takes is repetition and rote learning to became an aficionado of the nerd toys.

What tricks the techno-geeks into believing in their superior talents is the fact that operational instructions don’t exist at the elementary level for these gadgets and, in fact, are not needed. The way one learns to use these gadgets is by intuition and repetition. The techno-geek thinks, “If this tact worked for the last gadget, it may work for this new one.” “If I hold this button down for ten seconds, my response will be recorded.” “If all else fails, do a ctrl-alt-del.”

As a result, the techno-geek becomes monkey smart. Like the monkey who one day randomly realizes that if he takes a stick and pushes it into an ant hill, it’s easier to get to the little boogers. The monkey has learned how to use tools to satiate his appetite. A great leap forward in the advancement of monkey smarts.

There is no simpler interface than the windows interface used on most personal computers today. The interface is intuitive. It was designed to respond to random probes into the workings of the interface and reward the prober with positive feedback and suggestions for better or simpler methods for achieving a specific task.

But, when the techno-geeks learn this interface, they perceive that they have accomplished a great leap in intellectual pursuit. But, in reality, they have only become monkey smart.

However, these techno-geeks need to know that they aren’t the whiz kids that they make themselves out to be. They’ve learned a simple interface to a complex electronic gadget. No more, no less. Most don’t know or don’t care about the scientific and technological underpinnings of these tools.

For example, many have no recollection of the simple mathematical sets which comprise computer math using binary arithmetic. In that world, few are aware that 1 + 1 = 10. Still fewer comprehend the notion that the letter A can represent a number in base sixteen calculations.

And few are aware of the compilers and computer languages used to produce the results presented to the user via these monkey smart interfaces.

It is possible that we are now entering an evolutionary phase where computers take over the higher level thinking of humans because humans have lost the desire and the need to comprehend and apply scientific principles.

Yes, dear reader, we have now entered a regressive world, where monkey smarts substitute for real scientific expertise.