I have always found codes to be
fascinating but sadly have never been that great at figuring them out. I
had known to a small extent that math was involved. Now that I know what a huge
part math and numbers play in cryptography, it makes sense that it has never
been a talent of mine. It’s rather funny; I have always said I am much
better at words than numbers. For the first time I am realizing just how
closely related the two are!
In chapter 8 when the author told us
about different speakers at a conference, I thought what Margaret Mead brought
up was interesting; that the meaning in a message, like anger, needs to be
considered as well. That is an issue we are still confronted with today,
in our emails, posts, and instant messages. It is difficult to convey emotion,
and difficult to read a message without inferring emotion. Society sought
to solve this dilemma with emoticons, a small picture that demonstrates an
emotion. It started with using punctuation and letters on the keyboard,
but as technology has advance, has evolved into little pictures in most
programs. Some applications, like AIM, have a variety of themed emoticons
to choose from. I have to say I use them, and LOL, a lot to make sure
that I get my point across, or to not accidentally offend someone.
I think it is
very interesting how people like to use the supernatural to explain processes
or phenomenon that we don’t fully understand on is difficult to
understand. Like Maxwell’s demon in chapter 9, or like the Greek god Zeus
to explain lightening. Actually, Greek mythology is another example of people
sorting and putting things in order. People did this by sorting out nature,
emotions, states or being, etc. and assigning them to different gods and
goddesses. It is really is amazing how much order dominates our
lives. Even the way we process and retain information utilizes categories
and orders, by using schemas. It’s amazing how math, engineering,
physics, psychology, and communication are all linked!
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