Aihps3.200 net.space utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!mhtsa!harpo!floyd!houxi!ihnss!ihps3!pcl Fri Jan 29 10:32:47 1982 "humanists" and "technologists" NOT disjoint sets! "humanist, n. A person having a strong interest in or concern for human welfare" [Random House College Dictionary] I take strong exception to the sharp dichotomy watmath!pcmcgeer assumes between humanists and technologists! I consider myself to be both, and see many others here at work and on these nets (Usenet & ARPAnet) who I would describe similarly. And it's not just that I'm a technologist while sitting at my desk, and a humanist when considering the best remedy to living in an unratified state - we can be both at the same time! Of course, *some* *activities* may fall into just one category or the other, and it is (unfortunately) possible to find some technologists who are clearly not humanists. On the point pcmcgeer was addressing, I think it is those of us who are *more* than just technologists who are in a position to affect society the most. The technology by itself doesn't tell you how to get it out of the lab, where to put it, how to use it, or even WHY ANYONE SHOULD BOTHER! This point applies to more than just the topic of this news group/digest, and should probably be in HUMAN-NETS, but it does seem to have some connection to the 'popular' argument against funding for space ("Why not spend all that money on something that will benefit the masses?"). If ALL we are is technologists, or even if that's how the 'public' perceives us (and we perceive ourselves), we won't be able to refute that argument effectively. Paul Lustgarten Bell Labs - Indian Hill ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.