Jacquard’s Web

This reading effectively pointed towards viewing the Analytical Machine using different lenses. I was particularly drawn to the comparison between Babbage and Ada’s writing. As James Geary describes in his book on metaphor, “This is the primary purpose of metaphor: to carry over existing names or descriptions to things that are either so new that they haven’t been named or so abstract that they cannot be otherwise explained.” Ada’s ’emotiveness’ and ‘gusto’ lent the same piece of machinery other meanings. 

I enjoyed the exercise of defining ‘our world’ in class. Very often, we call it ‘participatory design’ but never really question what this participation entails. This was a quiet reminder to think of this class as a close community and I hope it becomes that. 

Geary, James. I Is an Other: the Secret Life of Metaphor and How It Shapes the Way We See the World. Harper Perennial, 2012, www.amazon.com/Other-Secret-Metaphor-Shapes-World/dp/0061710296.