Digital Dichotomization

The digital world is beautifully dichotomized. 1 or 0 or (better yet?) 0 or 1—it reflects reality in the most perfect abstraction. Something either is or is not. Moreover, some things either are or are not. This is still evident in binary, as different dichotomizations can result in overall different effects. 01 is different from 10, as 00 is different from 11. They are both just the result of different process dichotomizations. These series of dichotomizations reflects in reality the different paths of cause and effect leading to different results. For example, I was not born on September 23, 1991 (instead of being born on that day) and was not born African-American (instead of being born African-American). This leads to the result of a non-African American that was not born on September 23, 1991. Beautifully simplistic.

The image that galvanized the above pondering can be found here.

Everything in a modern GUI can be highlighted to one different color: the icons, the text, the backgrounds—everything. This further shows the validity and beauty of cascading abstractions and the universality of logical principals, as something so far from the pure code of binary, but still composed of it, holds its lowest common denominator’s properties.

The invention of the personal computer, the GUI specifically, presents other opportunities of philosophical inquiry and experiment.

For example, in subjective experience, one is not, paradoxically, consciously aware of what they are focusing on. However, with the interceding of computer, one must be aware of what there are focusing on in order to use a computer—in typical computing language, you must “select” it. This enables you do things with it. “I am going to bring this icon into operability by 'selecting' it.” Research on this property will bring knowledge that is more informed on extension of consciousness, human consciousness, focus of consciousness, and philosophy of computer science. This information all comes from the unique experience of the intersection of human consciousness and agency with an interceding console. One reality acting at the bidding of another.