Metaphors, Jargon and Clouds
Jargon refers to words usually new inventions that have meaning to a
select group and are meaningless to others. Jargon proliferates in technical,
scientific and commerce groups, often creating word boundaries that
isolate in-groups from others. Some jargon is invented and taught to a large
group through advertising. Some jargon is metaphoric linking new words to
familiar words and concepts.
The latest metaphor for internet communications is the
"cloud." I am not a fan of the cloud concept and have practical concerns about
placing all data records and computing resources in public networks. Doubts
notwithstanding, the fuzziness of the cloud does describe the disappearance of
boundaries and coherence in the great and prolific noise of the internet. The
"cloud" is yet another addition to a growing lexicon of jargon. A bit of jargon
is the epitome of misinformation that spreads as a meme from person to person
until it is common in public speech. The cloud in physical from is a collection
of server warehouses, hardware connected to the internet.
The metaphor of cloud for networking on the internet is nonsense, but as a
public relations gimmick it works. Clouds in the sky look like real objects with
a solid presence, but they are virtual objects made of water droplets and ice
crystals – you cannot walk, sit or lie on them. What is described by "cloud
computing" are changing business opportunities and the control of internet
networks. Cloud enthusiasts suggest that the central role of a personal computer
or notebook will diminish or disappear. Since I am unwilling to use a tiny
keyboard and view data on a small screen, smartphones and other handheld
portable devices are not on my wish list. In terms of usability, privacy
and portability, my choice is a fully empowered desktop computer or a
well-qualified notebook that can be connected to a more capable desktop computer
at the office, and at home.
Using the cloud depends on users having great
faith ina few companies and their enormous server warehouses that support
the internet data centers and faith in the dedication of server hosts to secure
your information. The potential benefits of cloud computing are obvious,
but so are the problems. A complicated new jargon has emerged within the cloud
metaphor which conceals rather than reveals what is really going on. The trend
toward reliance on central server warehouses is well established. Server
warehouses are the physical form of networks that do not resemble clouds. Henn
described visiting one of the largest in Santa Clara, Calif., SC1, owned by
DuPont Fabros Technology which is about a quarter-mile long. "It's about the
same size and length as a Nimitz aircraft carrier," says Paul Hopkins, a
regional vice president for the company. The entrance is guarded, and employees
need fingerprint scans to get in and out. SC1 isn't fully built out yet. But
when it is, it will use enough electricity to power more than 57,000 homes.
Servers also generate heat and must be cooled continuously. Facebook uses arctic
air to cool its machines for free in Lulea, Sweden, just south of the Arctic
Circle where the outside temperature might be minus 20 to 25 degrees Celsius in
January. Cheap, reliable hydroelectricity power is also available.”[i]
[i] Steve Henn. Searching The Planet To Find Power
For The Cloud. All Tech considered. April 21, 2014
Computers and Language
Book critic, Sam Anderson, reflected on the state of
language and books. Electronic communication has changed
human communication and changed the way people use language. The tendency is to
condense, compress and fragment communications, so that sustained attention to
meaningful conversations is less likely and books that require hours to days of
concentration are becoming obsolete. Anderson stated: I tend to shy away
from big, sweeping, era-defining statements. It’s the fastest possible way to be
wrong about the world, and usually just an excuse for various forms of sloppy
thinking: cherry-picking, scapegoating, doomsaying, fear-mongering, sandbagging,
arm-twisting, wool-gathering, leg-pulling. And yet it would be hard to dispute
that over the last 5 or 10 years, the culture has changed drastically. The
shift is so obvious that it’s boring, by now, even to name the culprits: Google,
blogs, texting, tweets, iPhones, Facebook — a little army of tools that have
given rise to (and grown out of) radically new habits of attention. Many of us
are now addicted, on the dopamine-receptor level, to a moment-by-moment
experience of life that’s defined by a behavior sometimes referred to as “time
slicing”: jumping every few seconds between devices or windows or tabs,
constantly swiveling the periscope of our attention around and around the
horizon to see where the latest relevant data-burst might come from. "
Ramchandani recalled Orwell's remarks that, since political
language is usually the defense of the indefensible, it has to consist "largely
of euphemism, and cloudy vagueness". She stated:" Anyone
trying to impress, to sell or to obfuscate is likely to brutalise the language.
Prominent offenders are businessmen, with their onboard customer service
representatives, collision damage waivers, nonincremental growth opportunities
and enhanced information management activities, providing innovative solutions
and significant leverage in the use of resources, and thus permitting an
increasing percentage of senior professional time to be expended on value-added
solutions. Politicians can effortlessly match this. Their stock-in-trade is
sustainable development, key performance indicators, the knowledge-based
economy, inclusiveness and empowered communities, all offered up with mandatory
passion, vision and excitement. Put politicians together with soldiers and you
get Islamofascism, extraordinary rendition, self-injurious behavior incidents
and the war on terror. "
I have mentioned nonsense as a popular result of humans
communicating among themselves. Other nonsense is adventitious, sometimes amusing,
mostly confusing. The misuse of general categories is one my ongoing concerns.
Of the recent category names, slogans and memes, I would select as the most
misused: Health Care, Economy, National Security, Terrorism, Global,
Pandemic, Virtual Reality, Cloud, Artificial Intelligence, Outer Space. Health should have remained one the basic English
words, protected by a supreme language authority. Instead, health has been lost
to the politicians and businessmen. In Canada health was used as the name for a
new medical and hospital insurance act in 1967. Canada Health Insurance led to
Ministries of Health and a commerce in health services and products.
The problem, of course, is that health once referred
to healthy people who were free of disease, physically fit, productive and
happy. Healthy people did not need to spend money on doctor visits, drugs and
surgery. Now health care points to injured and sick people who need doctors and
hospitals. Either healthy people vanished or they can be ignored. New
terms such as "wellness" appeared, but no category word could replace the proper
label "health." Instead of health care, the correct term is medical care, a
heterogeneous collection of products and services provided by MDs, drug
suppliers and hospitals that deal with people who are not healthy. Medical care
is required by people who move from health to illness, often slowly over many
years, Life is a one way street and disease progression will remove
opportunities for prevention or early intervention. Hospitals collect people who
have serious injuries or advanced disease and require the most expensive medical
care.
