Assignment MT6.2

Mind = Printing Press
John Locke compares the mind to a printing press. His metaphor on how humans think highlights several aspects of the printing press and there are multiple hidden meanings as well. Like a printing press, Locke believes that all the information we retain, we “stamp” into our minds as a printing press would “stamp” sheets of paper with information. These “sheets of paper,” then are stored and filed in our brains so that we can recall them later. He states, “yet we can bring in sight, and make appear again, and be the Object of our Thoughts, without the help of those sensible Qualities, which first imprinted them there.” His metaphor includes several hidden meanings that relate to a printing press as well. Sheets that are produced by this machine, can fade, be torn, or damaged, making the information distorted and unclear. Our minds can have the same ability with memory. Memories are not always crisp or clear and there can be pieces missing. Sometimes one has to think hard and dig deep to remember a past event. Also, printing presses can make mistakes that include typos. Our mind when retaining information can also make mistakes. We can remember certain events completely different to another person that was involved in the same event. The perceptions of the events can be highly skewed.

Mind = Computer
Comparing the mind to a computer has the same concepts of a printing press, but there are several key differences as well. Information that is stamped on a sheet of paper is harder to change than a computer. One could easily change information on a computer with the aid of a word processor. When recalling information, the mind can easily change the details of certain events in the past to his/her liking. Also, recalling information on a computer is a lot easier and faster and the information is more precise. Instead of just relying on the written language to remember things, people now have multiple types of media that they can recall to jog their memories such as video, music, and digital still pictures.

I believe as our technology improves, so does the human mind. We are getting smarter, information is moving a lot faster, and the creativity in our minds has expanded greatly. Just as how the printing press developed into highly complex machines such as the computer, our minds have consequently followed suit. Humans have evolved into highly intricate beings that love to think. To answer the question of when society switched from “Sense Impression,” to “Sense Data” is the span of time when we transitioned from simple machines (the printing press), to highly sophisticated technology. Several processes run through our head every day to function, just like that of a modern day computer. I think the computer best describes the human mind better than the metaphor of a printing press because the storing information cannot be described by one simple process of “stamping” information on a piece of paper, but it is more complex like that of a computer. I believe it is too difficult to compare it to a simple machine such that of a printing press and does not do it any justice. On the other hand, computers are highly complicated and multifaceted, thus humans are the only beings that know how to build and use these urbane machines. They are not always simple and can be very confusing at times just like the human psyche. In J.M. Balkin’s article, Cultural Software, he makes a statement that says “Some philosophers of mind have gone so far as to argue that the human mind is essentially indistinguishable from a computer…” which I can very much relate and agree upon in this case.