

Article 1133 of comp.cog-eng:
Path: mimsy!tank!ncar!ames!ucsd!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!sdsu!munin!ucselx.uucp!maxc0186
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Newsgroups: comp.society.futures,comp.cog-eng
Subject: The Ultimate User Interface
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Date: 18 May 89 21:53:38 GMT
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Organization: San Diego State University
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Xref: mimsy comp.society.futures:1404 comp.cog-eng:1133

                  The Way of the Disk Seeker

	As he sat staring at the video screen, his brain waves
synchronizing with the screen's refresh rate, he struggled with
the koan that the Master Control Program had presented to him
just days before.  He hadn't moved from his contoured chair with
its adjustable backrest since the words appeared on his screen.
"What is the number obtained on a divide by zero?"  He knew that
koans had no explainable answer and the answer was not the
important thing but still he had doubts.  He could see the flicker
interval increasing, or so it seemed, until the screen just drew
a blank.  Then it dawned on him that he couldn't remember his
name or where he was.  Without even willing it, his hands made
their way to the keyboard and began typing the word "whoami".
It was as if he'd become a peripheral device for some unconscious
power.  He wasn't really typing - 'It' was.
	He sensed the scanning electron beam projecting itself
beyond the phosphor behind the glass to the back of his eyeballs,
to his brain, probing the source of his thoughts, etching the
System's reply in gray matter.
	"To name a name is to delimit a 'thing'".  He didn't have
to read the words.  He wasn't sure if they really were words.
He could feel his impulse response racing to infinity in what
seemed like an eternity.  He saw the poles and zeros shifting in
the s-plane as the singularity engulfed him.  All distinctions
between mind and body, hardware and software, user and system
disappeared as he became one with the System.  As he slowly
settled into the steady state, a delicious smile crept on his
lips.  All at once he knew.  He had reached Cyberspace.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
 and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.
 The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
 When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.
 The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
 When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.
 Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
 He is the one I would like to talk to."
   -Chuang Tzu
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
MOS: Message Oriented Systems
  The medium is the message;
  You are the object.
  Or is it the other way around?