[…] you talk to it. Stop talking to it, stop blaming it for your own stupidity and it will become faster. Also you […]

I think this works with all machines. I don’t think it matters wheather they have computer chips in them or not.

I think humans have a tendency to personify anything that is unknown or complex. Religion and Myth are all examples of this.

I know how my computer works. I understand electronics and software. But at a certain point it becomes easier to avoid the real problem. Sometimes I’m not wanting to struggle to find causality between kernel drivers, configuration files, shared libraries, plug-ins and general cruft to troubleshoot an issue. At that point “it’s too complicated” and I just re-install.

But then I never personify my tools. I just understand why some people might.

It actually fits very well with the idea that computers were designed to emulate the human experience as much as humanly (haha) possible. The fact that it has long term (hard drive) and short-term (RAM) memory is only one of the many anthropological attributes that its creators unwillingly ingrained into them. It doesn’t help either that Operating Sytems are designed around interacting with hardware through commands. Clicking is an extension of the human action of pointing to something and saying “I want that”. Typing has become just another form of natural communication, made worse through the advent of the Internet. The computer is designed to appear as if it knows who you are and what you want through interpretive communication.

Where you see counterproductive behavior, I see the designers’ ambitions coming to fruition. I guess I would segue into a whole rant about singularity and other silliness, but I guess that’s where you plan to go as well.

Well written, though. I enjoyed it.

@ Zel:

See, I usually find much better targets to blame for my issues. Like Microsoft for example. Or whomever designed the POS software that is acting up. Or Dell for making shitty hardware. There is always a better target to curse at than your computer. :)

I know computers are tools, that doesn’t prevent me from cursing them anyway when things do go the way I want :) As of yet, no poltergeist manifestation has appeared either inside or outside the case, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

All this talk of Machine Spirits reminds me of Warhammer 40k. I know very little of the setting (only through the two Dawn of War games), but most people in it seem to consider machines as vessels for gods or spirits, and they must pray and/or sacrifice things to appease them and get them to work. I found it very funny and somewhat accurate in the way certain people treat technology they don’t understand, following completely useless rituals.