Southeastern Massachusetts University - Scrimshaw Yearbook (North Dartmouth, MA)

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Q ,ef 1 5 .. .,-. ,fl 4 . my . Tse' .ff ' IM? if-sf-ff -'f- -v Q. v 7.11,-. .z eqafm-v-1. ' . ff ' .9 , .' ff, ruff.. 5--5-w.:2 . -,asf , ,,, , ff 1--1' qi ' ' H, ,, ,.,: ,. , .... . .,,,,. f-gf,.-- ' E mv. QW' .:,-,:..,-euan,-q..f,g,-,,',,,--fA,f sgf5.g',-.'f7f'-sf-1'.H Q' gn, 1 gi.: - .ln - .- 4 , ,.-, ,015-f .La-J. .W . ,.1., .f . . . . 4. f '- wdeedfr .1 the 81191110 WY' 'O md fn the 'QW mdummhge ' , e'ifi-ifncfevinalv dlfilf-'Ulf J - .1 ' ,Foufj-fuigdamen-tal-gdrives' arise from the gpplibationfioticybemeticsvinl the form of computeiff r the . toward destructive power, the drive toward -unlimited productive power, the to' 'eliminate the human mind from ,MW 5 ,,,,f,,i,,,,' and th, ,-,,,,,,,,,, drive of the computer within acybernetics system. I shall first examine the components of these drives, then indicate the end results of these drives if we fail to change the present socioeconomic system, and finally, I will set. . out some of the mzhimtun steps required to enable us to use these drives to achieve our fundamental goals. First, the drive toward unlimited destructive power results from the combination of nuclear energy with the control and communication system of the computer and -the activities of those involved in research and development. It is now generally accepted that there are already sufficient nuclear explosives, as well as bacteriological and chemical weapons, to destroy civilization, if not all life Second, the drive toward unlimited productive power also results from the combination of effectively unlimited energy with 'the control and communication system of the computer and the activities of those involved in researchnd development. While this drive toward unlimited productive power is still denied by the conventional economist, it is fully accepted by those most closely associated with prod uction, the manufacturers and the farmer. American firms now expand their production, both within America and abroad, just as fast as they are able to increase profitable sales. There is no longer any effective limit to our productive abilities: we have passed beyond the dismal science of traditional economics. U Thant, Secretary General of the United Nations has expressed this reality in the following words' i S PPLY DEM l . 'lu- 1 1 fr ,E e , 5 ,K Q 'E x

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T OPIC T OPIC T OPIC T OPIC T OPIC T OPIC T OPIC T OPIC T OPIC T OPIC T OPIC T OPIC T OPIC T OPIC T OPIC TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I THE RISE OF CIVILIZATION 5 2 THE ANCIENT GREEK CIVILIZATION 16 3 THE ANCIENT ROMAN CIVILIZATION 25 4 THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY 36 5 WESTERN EUROPE IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES 41 6 THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE AND THE MOSLEM EMPIRE 49 7 THE RISE OF NATIONAL STATES 56 8 CHRISTIANITY DURING THE LATER MIDDLE AGESQ MEDIEVAL CULTURE 66 9 THE DECLINE OF BYZANTIUM - THE CRUSADES - RUSSIA 71 10 THE RISE OF ABSOLUTE MONARCHS IN THE WEST 74 1.1 THE RENAISSANCE 81 12 THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION AND THE CATHOLIC COUNTER - REFORMATION 86 13 THE MODERN STATE SYSTEM 93 14 THE AGE OF DISCOVERY AND THE COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION 99 15 FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN THE 17TH CENTURY 103 SAMPLE EXAMINATION QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 109

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The truth, the central stupendous truth, about developed countries today is that they can have-in anything but the shor'test run-the kind and scale of resources they decide to have .... It is no longer resources that limit decwons. It is the decision that makes the resources. This is the fundamental revolutionary change-perhaps the most revolutionary mankind has ever known. Third, the drive to eliminate the human mind from repetitive activities results from the fact that the computer rs a far more efficient worker than already we know that the production worker can be replaced by the cybernated system, that the. computer controls inventory more effectively than the manager, that the computer handles bank accounts far more cheaply than the clerk. These however, are primitive developments: in the near future we will see that the computer can take over any structured task, that is to say, any task where the decrion-making rules can be set out ui advance. Thus for example, the computer will take over the process of granting most types ofbank loan, the analysis of stock portfolios and the process of odd-lot trading. on Wall Street. The last application is perhaps particularly noteworthy, for it will replace a group of people whose median income is aroundS50,000 a year. Fourth, the umherent organizational drive of the computer withuz a cybemetics system: The setting up of computer systems is a response to a need to increase economic efficiency or to rationalize operations, but as computer systems become fully operative, a drive emerges toward the reorganization, for purposes of compatability, of interacting systems and institutions. The greater the number of areas of computer application, the greater the number of areas of computer application, the greater the force -behind There is now quite clearly a trend toward the emergence of a total computer system organized for maximum efficiency in tems of immediate tasks. Changes resulting from these four drives have already begun. The transformation taking place around us should, therefore, not be regarded as a process involving the occurrences of random, isolated non-predictable events, but rather be urgently studied to determine what trends are developing. In addition, we must always keep in mind that change 'brought about in one part of the system will be accompanied by other changes, . '21 UN.. I 4 3:11 . 6 ' N ,fyfy V -,,Z?.vv.?LQ,,'f:s., . r M 'L 1 x ,V if., .L W., 'fr , 5.31 hi its