What We Can’t do.

We can’t lift half a ton. But we can with a forklift. We can’t know absolutely any unit value without the aid of a thermometer, scales, a light meter, ruler etc etc. We are at a loss with numbers unless we know the rules of mathematics. All these vastly expand what we can do and we tend to forget we can’t do it without external stuff. So why make this pretty obvious point? Well what is it we or say I bring to the party when playing with all this equipment? I suggest experience, inventiveness, intent and an ability to visualise and compare. These are what you might call our soft ‘human’ skills, our unique contribution to this man/equipment interface. These skills basically reduce to intent and comparison. Only we can question, “Is it brighter outside?” and only we can answer, “Well brighter than it was.” We can’t measure lumens without a light meter and normally ‘brighter’ or darker is what we’re interested in. We might feel one weight is heavy and another heavier but we’d need scales to determine their absolute weights. Our senses of light, sound, taste, smell and kinaesthetic all work on comparison without any ability to know any absolute values or really appreciate them sensually. Sure we can read a printout of 110 decibels but our ‘felt’ value can vary wildly from deafening to fine. Basically we’re soft feely animals who’ve invented tools to augment our ourselves. And we’re still soft feely animals. So? Well we’re so the sorcerers apprentice. We’ve mastered spells with no idea of their results. Dum di dum di dum di da da da. Sure we have spreadsheets, balance sheets, calculations and machines but… Did anyone think in the 50’s when they invented plastic that lasts 400 years how much there’d be in 400 years time? Do billionaires calculate how much shopping time they’re going to have to do to spend it all? No! Because we’re still soft feely animals. We can read numbers but our senses can’t really conceive of them. “I have a large number so I need a larger one.” That’s how simple we are. And we have to acknowledge that. That is our limitation and the sooner we accept it the sooner we’ll stop the damage we’re causing.