We have a neighbor who is an air traffic controller. For the summer, he's boarding a student air traffic controller who's young, optimistic, and really into his job. The youngster was pretty bemused by what software programming is like, and after a while our neighbor started talking about our getting a tour of the controller areas. Actually see them while they're directing planes and stuff.
The younger guy is like "Oh! Yeah, we could get our computer guys to show you the computers!"
And both John and I are like, "No, thank you. We aren't interested in the computers, we're far, far more interested in your system of reality, thank you." Though John didn't put it that way.
Computers are a medium. A method for representing some pretty astonishing systems and things, but they're still just models. Reality is far more fascinating to me, and being able to see it live, raw, and real is far more interesting than through the filter of a model conceived by human beings. *grin* I realized that I don't love the model so much as the understanding of a new, complex system and how best to capture it. Yum.
