Microserfs reading response

Joseph Fenner
Comp 106
Professor Yerks
14 December 2008
Karla says, "computers will continue to be developed . . . an 'entity is going to be created that has its own intelligence." What is Karla saying about artificial intelligence (AI)? What are your perspectives on AI?:
Karla is stating her belief that an “entity” will be created, and that it is not a matter of “if” it will be created, but more a matter of when will it be created. This entity will have its own intelligence, meaning that it is its own being, it will not need a human to operate it, nor will it need a human to reproduce; including the AIers’ current goal of mimicking evolution through cross-breeding of programs to develop intelligence, or as previously referred to as, an “entity.” Then Karla raises the question of “Will this Entity be something other than human?”(Coupland 34) Which shows her belief that it will be something other than human; perhaps a brand a new species. Daniel states, “…What else will the Entity be? It will have spring from our own brains,” (Coupland 34) which I disagree with.
I think that this question is very much similar to presentation by Kevin Kelly, “Predicting the next 5000 days of the web.” As he states the internet is already approximately the equivalent of the human mind, yet it is still controlled by humans. Kelly also says that by the year 2040 the web will exceed humanity in processing power. I feel that this “entity”, having sprung from human minds, will be able to mimic human actions, and to an extent human emotions. I think it’s possible to create many scenarios for the entity to react with the proper emotion, but I still feel that it will still be insensitive and immoral; making decisions based on efficiency rather that morality. In fact it actually scares me to think that we will create an entity, which once created, will be able to handle reproduction and self management. So, in my mind, we will just be creating a species on the same level if not better than us to which we must compete with. We depend on computers for many things, but if we create a totally independent “entity,” one must question, what will it need us for? Considering that sometime in the soon future we may be second to this “entity” strikes some fear into my mind.

Why do you think Coupland's characters speak in computer jargon, and use technical expressions to describe their lives and environment? How does this compare to your experiences of the workplace and home? What effect does this way of speaking have on others?:
As Daniel mentions many times, everyone at Microsoft lives the same life, they are all approximately 31.2 years old, all drive grey sedans, etc., so they all live the same live the same lives. Not to mention nearly all the characters in the book all worked at Microsoft, Apple, or some other major computer corporation, so they are all familiar with this jargon that is used. Since the characters are pretty much always with their co-workers they never find themselves leaving the state of mind, or environment to a place where this jargon is uncommon or inappropriate.
I work at St. Mary Mercy Hospital, and as you common on televisions, there is a wide range of hospital jargon and acronyms which while at work, or even with co-workers outside of work I still find myself using. Though once I leave work I tend to turn this jargon off and not use it at home because there isn’t a point, it’s a different world. Though in Microserfs, the characters are always with their co-workers and always in work mode, so they never do turn that jargon off.
When speaking this jargon in front of others, particularly those who are not familiar with it, you find it can be at times rude. Being that I am a PCA (Patient Care Associate) at the hospital I notice the doctors using hospital jargon when speaking to patients or their family. Although they are actively listening to the doctor, they do not understand everything they are being told, yet they still nod and pretend to understand. After the doctor leaves I often notice the same dumbfounded look on most people’s faces, so I politely ask, “would you like me to break that down for you?” In most cases the family, or patient, respond with a yes. So what I’ve concluded is the “nodding” process, is really just the people omitting what they don’t understand. This is something I found myself doing when reading Microserfs, if I didn’t understand the jargon, I found it made no sense to me, therefore subconsciously decided it served no purpose to me and found myself, skimming and omitting sections where this computer jargon was present.

What perspectives does Coupland have on big corporations, the workplace and the towns in which they are situated? How does this compare to your own experiences and perspectives?:
Douglas Coupland has many perspectives about big corporations. These perspectives are portrayed directly through the characters he has created. Such as the fact that all the characters display the same features shows his perspective that at major corporations most employees fit the same criterion. Then he pointed out that not only are all the employees the same, but so are all the big corporations in the competitive market. This is evident on page 121 of Microserfs, when Daniel creates a comparison chart between Apple and Microsoft after Anatole states "Apple is Microsoft!!!" As you look at the items listed on the chart, you notice they are very similar, just competing with each other. So it brings forth the idea that rivals are usually rivals because of their close similarities.
Coupland even expresses one of his perspectives on lying off employees through Karla when Daniel's dad gets fired from IBM. Karla comforts Daniel by explaining that presently people who are "fiftysomethings" get treated in major corporations like they were treated centuries ago, as if they were dead. Though she feels this is because those in the fiftysomething's category are a little slow at accepting technology, but feels this trend will dissipate shortly. So basically Coupland's perspective is that these older people get fired because they are considered obsolete compared to those fresh, young minds entering the job market (Coupland 23). Given that this book was written 12 years ago, in 1996, I feel as if that trend has passed. As for the trend about major corporations being nearly identical, I picture this being true. When i used to work at an auto dealership, I would notice the similarities not only between our sister dealerships, but also our competitors. Such as there were all service advisors, service porters, technicians, all serving the same purpose at every dealership. Really the only difference was the uniforms, or the logo on the dealership.














Works Cited
Coupland, Douglas. Microserfs. New York, 1996. HarperCollinsPublishers.
Kelly, Kevin. “Predicting the next 5000 days of the web.” EG 2007 Conference. December 2007.