Sunday, October 16, 1955 -ae v Y Page Five How Good Is A Brain Machine? Half a million dollars for a high-speed automatic computer also purchases human-like problems By DICK LAING treatment is the same. The prob- LECTRONIC computing mach- lem is "got out in the open." The Ines, developed during World machine, after it is cleared of the War II to process large amounts disturbing problem, is given a test of data, proved a spectacular suc- routine. Humans are often given cess. simple tests designed to bolster their self confidence or define the Before the War most of the area of worry. larger computing machines had been slow and unreliable mechani- If the machine or human con- cal devices. During the War, the tinues to "go in circles," there use of electro-mechanical systems are several courses still open. instead of gear trains greatly in- The human may be "put away," creased the speed, reliability and "kept quiet." But although this flexibility of the large computors. is often done with humans, the By 1942 MIT had its Differential big computors are too valuable Analyser No. 2 in operation and to leave standing around un- by 1944 Harvard's Mark I was also used. Another stenographer or in action. college professor can be ob- tained in a few hours; it may All electronic computers prey- take months to build another ed even better than the electro- machine. mechanical ones. The Eniac, at In "therapy," a sort of shaking the University of Pennsylvania, and scrambling treatment may be was the first of the high-speed, used in the belief that no new ar- all-electronic computors. rangement of mental circuits could Automatic computors in many be worse than the present inac- ways are superior to human cal- tivity or inaccessibility of the culators. They are faster and more machine or human. In the case of reliable. They are "tireless." In a the machine, unusually large elec- few hours they can devour trical currents are often passed amounts of data that would keep through the system in an attempt a man busy for years. to "unstick" the offending part. For the human there is the elec- BUT THE large electronic com- tric or insulin shock treatment. puting machines have their problems too. Not just quaternions IF THE shock treatment fails, all or Rieman integrals or long divi- is not yet lost. The operator- sion. A computing machine may at psychiatrist may decide that the times behave in patterns analag- offending portion of the machine ous to those of neurotic humans, or human brain must be removed', and the "cure" for erratic elec- Most of the recent large com- tronic behavior is startingly sim- putors (including Illinois' Illiac ilar to methods of therapy em- and Michigan's Midae) have been ployed in mental hospitals, built up out of packaged plug-in When humans and machines get parts and the faulty unit is easily a neurotic "one track mind," the removed. If the unit is not essen- "Hun, ter's Horn" --y -PhosteoCurtesy Unisersity News Servlee THE UNIVERSITY'S mechanical brain MIDAC has made good in the small but select world e high-speed computer machines. Developed originally to solve certain complicated military problems, MIDAC has proved itself an all-purpose computer in the bargain. More officially known as MIchi- gan Digital Automatic Computer, it has the distinction of being the first machine of Its type in the Midwest. It is one of about twenty large-se ale digital computers throughout the country. Housed at the Willow Run Research Center, MIDAC'S units are on hand to give quick and econom- ical solution to many scientific and engineering problems. Pictured at the left is MIDAC's arith- metic control unit, with a back view of the same tial to the solving of the problem The big machines are quite or this or that.) But most of the at hand, it is left out. If it is es- stupid. Their brainpower is a bit reduction of the problem to terms sential, it is replaced by another more than a flatworm and less the machine can understand an standard unit . handle mtstha tomadlshiman dn .d It would seem then, that the machine possesses great advan- tages the human does not. The machine is usually better cared for, it has replaceable parts, and can solve problems amaz- ingly fast. But it is a miscon- ception that huge electronic computing machines somehow think "bigger" thoughts than most humans. than a moth. They can swiftly pick y out the differences between plus operators. To worry about mach- 20 volts and minus 10 volts (the ines "taking over" and "dominat- electrical equivalent of a yes or a ing the world" by their superior no, or a zero or a one in the bi- "brainpower" is unwarranted. nary number system.) If "big" It is true that the use of com- problems can be reduced to a puting machines is increasing. series of small "yes-no" problems, Computing devices will be at the the machine may be able to handle heart of automation plants, con- the job. (And a large number of trolling the action of dozens of human problems do in fact re- separate factory tools. duce to yes and no, this and that See MACHINE, Page 11 (Continued from Page 4) next so that the end might be brought about. She builds slowly and her structure is strong. When you have finished you have come to know these persons better than you know your friends. You have lived in the hill country. It is good writing and good story tell- ing. IF THERE is any quarrel with the book it could be contained in two aspects. The first is minor, and not influenced by comparison with "The Dollmaker." As im- portant as the event of birth is in the hill country, there seemed an undue description and pre- occupation with it. In Laureenie's death there is some of the most powerfull writing contained in "Hunter's Horn:" an almost un- bearable realism and emotion. Everything that could be said about birth, death or burial of these people is said in Laureenie's efforts. There is a reluctance after such a depth is reached to read the further incidents that deal with birth and death. The other criticism goes deeper and lies less in possible personal prejudice. It is also where com- parison of "Hunter's Horn" to "The Dollmaker" becomes partic- ularly interesting. Here the pos- sibility arises that the strength of "The Dollmaker" is there be- cause "Hunter's Horn" preceded it. "The Dollmaker," despite the number of characters and the full- ness of their characterization, al- ways remains Gertie's story. This is not so with Nunn Ballew in "Hunter's Horn." After the death of King Devil you know that Nunn Ballew will build his farm again in the tra- dition of the Ballews. Ironically, it is his son Lee Roy who will see to this even better than the father will. Milly Ballew, the wife, will go on, secure in her love of Sweet Jesus if not always understanding His ways and women's sorrow. The degree of her real happiness will rest upon whether the year was a good one and her fruit jars are filled. The two smallest child- ren remain unaffected. WITH THE affect on Suse Bal- lew, the oldest child, however, a division of the book occurs. Suse, not Nunn, emerges as King Devil's real victim at a time in her life when she is most vulnerable. It is a way that could not be more cruel, for Suse contains the past and the promise of the Ballews to their greatest degree. When Nunn Ballew substitutes the hearthstone for the dead King Devil he creates a final havoc more terrible than his pursuit of King Devil . He turns what had seemed his strength into a weak- ness, and what had been his weak- ness into a strength to bring about the final destruction of Suse. It is at this moment that there is the complete shift for the read- er, despite the subtle building to- ward Suse's tragedy from the time of Laureenie's death. Suse has progressed in the story ever more importantly. Nunn Ballew is real, but Suse emerges the more real. Nunn Ballew is important to you, but as you close "Hunter's Horn," and long after the reading is over, it is Suse whom you remember - Suse and the hill country - though it was Nunn that you avidly followed through it in pur- suit of the red fox. "Hunter's Horn" fails in this respect as suit of King Devil. "Hunter's "The Dollmaker" doesn't. A COPY of this nook Is now difficult to obtain, except through the library. It is well worth the search to read it, and better yet, to own it. Harriette Ar- now is a writer who can be read and re-read. She gives the pleasure of revisiting those you have come to know and under- stand, a place where you have been and would like to go again. It is a compliment that cannot always be given a writer, no mat- ter how enjoyable the story at first reading. - It is, a compliment that cannot be denied Harriette Arnow in "Hunter's Horn" any less than in "The Dollmaker," The two books are entirely differ- ent. 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