1995 Cognition Quote Resurfaces: Computers Remade People, Now They Remake Themselves
anselm · x · 2026-10-13
Anthropologist Edwin Hutchins wrote in Cognition in the Wild (1995): "The computer was not made in the image of the person… The computer was made in the image of the formal manipulations of abstract symbols," and the last 30 years of cognitive science can be seen as attempts to remake the person in the image of the computer.
The replying author argues we're approaching a precipice where this flips: computers begin remaking themselves through our concepts. Computation will increasingly be encountered "in the wild," and familiar reference points—the personal computer, discrete devices, even discrete programs—may become just one manifestation among many.
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