Not Just Another Pretty Face | Understanding Computers and Cognition: A New Foundation for Design

A little disappointed | Understanding Computers and Cognition: A New Foundation for Design | Terry Winograd, Fernando Flores

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	• Understanding Computers and Cognition: A New Foundation for Design Terry Winograd, Fernando Flores Addison-Wesley Professional, 1987 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 7 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

What are We to Make of Computers, and Computers Make of Us

Winograd and Flores' `Understanding Computers and Cognition' proposes that the rationalist tradition in AI must be replaced by a hermeneutic approach. Associating the rationalist tradition with the goal of building a human mind, the authors propose that a hermeneutic approach must adopt the goal of constructing prostheses which magnify the human mind. This paper argues that what AI needs is not so much a hermeneutic approach as a better appreciation of biology and psychology. Understanding Computers and Cognition is a groundbreaking book that presents an important new approach to understanding what computers do and how their functioning is related to human language, thought and action. Byte Magazine has recognized Understanding Computers and Cognition as one of the all-time 20 most influential books on information technology.

Thank you!

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Not Just Another Pretty Face

A few years ago Byte Magazine named this one of the 10 most important books in the history of the computer industry. Flores was asked to keynote the 50th anniversary meeting of the ACM on the strength of the work he has done, some of which is shown here.

I am a little surprised not to find a review here that shows awareness of what this book is and was intended to do -- to turn those concerned with the design of the role of computers in society into a new direction. The book offers a fundamental enrichment and extension to the traditional engineering-based foundations that are used for designing computer systems that is drawn from philosophy and biology. It opens the development of a rigorous new design milleau to the reader. This is NOT yet another multi-disciplinary rumination.

I would say this is not a "helpful" book, and it was never intended as an easy read. It is a book to turn to when one has learned enough about what is really at issue in putting computers to work in human life to discover that the likes of input, process, output, "friendly" interfaces, attractive graphical presentations, and logical flow charts are vastly insufficient distinctions for doing work that really makes a contribution to your clients and colleagues. The book challenges the reader strongly, and is not simple to read. I guess that the best way to read it is with someone else, having discussions as you go along.

This is a book to engage and grow with -- a must-read for those serious about designing and building systems that will affect the lives of those who engage with them.

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A little disappointed

I read the 1986 or 87 version of this book and am of a software/AI background. I didn't follow the biological material that well - either I was being dense or it just wasn't clearly written. I thought the book was repetitious (my chief complaint). Some of the concepts discussed include: "breakdown" (humans become aware of thing X only when something goes awry in which the X is involved), "thrownness" (humans don't rationally consider all possibilities and make perfect decisions because situations they are put in don't permit such cognition and/or we simply we aren't capable of it), "blindness" (we are always somewhat blind to the prejudicies/assumptions that guide our thinking...and we can't totally escape this predicament. Also discusses the co-routine effect (per the software world) of human affects environment and environment affects world circularity.

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Illuminates the concept of a user-system system

The authors' theme is that we each react to and are changed by our environment which in turn reacts to and is changed by each of us. In the end, one can design computers only within a particular consensual domain that entails at least some commonly understood rules and concepts. The authors rely heavily on the philosophical works of Maturana and Heidegger. Difficult to read as some word meanings are developed through usage and demonstration (e.g., "throwness"). Also, quotes from references are used endlessly to substantiate their theme. This is nice but I wonder after all is done, what contributions the authors' have made and how much is simply a rehash.

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Thoughtful and Brilliant

Understanding Computers and Cognition is an excellent book giving the right background and walks you nicely to understand all the notion of Speech act, Intention driven comversations and how these can be translated to a computer software. The book is not easy to read though (this is the only reason I gave it 4 stars and not 5).
But, those who are interested in this domain and are looking to better understand the academic theory behind it would find the book extremely helpful.

reviews: page 1, 2

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