ON THE FUTURE COMPUTER ERA: MODIFICATION OF THE AMERICAN CHARACTER AND THE ROLE OF THE ENGINEER OR A LITTLE CAUTION IN THE HASTE TO NUMBER,
Abstract
DeTocqueville, describing the American frontier of the 1830s, was struck by the freedom of Americans to come and go as they pleased without documents. He recorded the effects of an open frontier which bred people whose optimistic outlook was entirely different from that which he had encountered in Europe. For the first time he met citizens who felt their only limitation to wealth and happiness lay within themselves. We have come a long way from the day of the frontier ethic. In the process of building more complex social institutions to better serve groups of individuals, we are (and perhaps unnecessarily) eroding mechanisms conducive to social mobility. Better record keeping may be forcing us to move away from the value structure deTocqueville described to that of a new nation, where the name of the game is too often 'keeping your nose clean' or 'not getting involved.' (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1968
- Accession Number
- AD0677198
Entities
People
- Paul Baran
Organizations
- RAND Corporation