Re: virus: Technology (was manifest science)

Wade T.Smith (wade_smith@harvard.edu)
Sat, 5 Jun 1999 11:52:17 -0400

>>I had a similar analogy back when I played vinyl records. The
>>record is your genetic wiring and the quality of the "sound" depends
>>upon the needle (the environment) applied to the record.
>
>But the song remains the same...

LP's have an interesting characteristic- like all analogs, they can be identified with a little practice- akin to, uh, shamanism, BTW....

In fact, there was a man who could do this with remarkable accuracy a few years back, who was interviewed by James Randi, among others. He could look at an LP and identify composer and piece, in many instances. And this is because, like all analogs, we are really seeing an interpretation (language) of the original. The LP's grooves are literally artifacts of the original sounds. (Made with, uh, tools.... Only the usage of a tool can produce an artifact....)

It is quite easy to identify silences and loud passages, to find vocal sections and percussive areas, on LP's. Yes, this is one thing you can try at home....

The difference between analog and digital is most of what all the arguments are here, BTW....

If only we lived in a digital universe....