The One and the Many

Abstract

I have finally changed my mind about computers. I used to regard them with pre-modernist disdain. I considered them to be just another triumph of technocracy, a symptom of the redefinition of thought as manipulation within pre-established channels. I was worried that they privilege novelty over organicity and mask the role of the body in the written word. So I have resisted my colleagues' suggestions that I have a computer installed in my office. Of course, my refusal never ends the conversation. I am occasionally invited into a neighboring office so that the computer's features may be demonstrated to me. My colleagues explain that a computer removes the drudgery and makes work enjoyable. I tell them that I already enjoy my work, and that I especially enjoy guiding my blue felt-tip pen along the lines of my yellow legal pad. One of my special pleasures is to decide, every so often, after examining the breadth of the line and the resistance of the pen, that the point has become dull. I then discard the pen and start again with a new one, confident that the fine, crisp line will sharpen my thought. I ask whether I would continue to experience such pleasures if I were to begin writing on a computer. They respond that the computer is more efficient. I tell them that I find it very efficient to think about the next sentence while staring out the window at the city skyline. Is it more efficient, I ask, to come up with the next sentence by staring into the computer? They tell me that they can display different documents on the screen simultaneously. I politely explain that I can do the same thing on my desk. This time they change their approach. They ask whether I know that, if I had a computer, I could put a question to it, in normal language, and the computer would almost immediately display documents that provide an answer. I hesitate for a second as I recall the question I was exploring when I was interrupted, then inquire about the sort of question that one is permitted to ask. As far as the law is concerned, any question you like, they tell me. All right, I say, what about this one: What does Hegel mean for the law? Well no, they say, of course you cannot ask that kind of question. Oh, I say, I'm sorry. I take another moment to reflect. This is astonishing.