Saturday, December 27, 2014

Fiberwonk Recalls ENIAC

My father was a taciturn statistician.  A time and motion expert in the US military.  I recall the wonderment in my father's voice when he described his trip upon returning from a secret destination.  Somewhere in the US there was a  huge cavern under a mountain.  We knew that.  We didn't know where.  He would tell us about huge machines housed there that could figure out everything.  He lit our imaginations telling us how wonderful our world would be when we were adults and had kids of our own.

Now we know a bit more.  Not the details. But we do know he was talking about the late 1940's first Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer financed by the US Army.

We can all relate to how incredible the prospects must have seemed (and still do) at the potential for artificial intelligence.  As interesting is the potential in the stories and ideas told to small children by their parents.  Those tales generated such curiosity in us, his four children, that each studied mathematics and three went on to life-long careers.  Fortunately he lived to know that.

As for potential:  I really do think that words spoken to small children REALLY do make a difference.  Yes, actions too.  But those stories that are replayed in little people's heads are very powerful.

Fiberwonk Recalls ENIAC
Commercial cottons, found objects.  18" x 18"
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6 comments:

  1. Kate ThemelDecember 28, 2014 at 10:30 AM

    I love the idea that "potential" can be how parents' stories can spark ideas in a child's mind. The secretive spin on your dad's stories must have made them even more exciting and let your imagination run wild, trying to fill in the blanks...

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  2. Diane WrightDecember 28, 2014 at 5:07 PM

    Yes. Very exciting. It had to be to explain kids who loved math :-)

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  3. Martha WolfeDecember 30, 2014 at 10:00 AM

    Great name, Diane! It's amazing how different the stories are in different families - we would never have discussed numbers and computers in our house, but we had our stories, too. Storytelling is such a piece of different cultures - - it must be to this affect. It feeds an active imagination and perpetuates behaviors. Great interpretation of potential.

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  4. Diane WrightDecember 30, 2014 at 3:08 PM

    Thank you, Martha. I think it was an interesting challenge. Thank you too, Betty

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  5. Alicia MerrettDecember 30, 2014 at 3:56 PM

    I found this piece and explanation fascinating. I totally agree that what is said and shown to small children makes a huge difference. It is amazing the things I remember that my father and mother told me or showed me when I was little. No mathematics I'm afraid, but politics and economics as well as literature and storytelling from my father, and craft, stitching and photography from my mother.

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  6. Lin Hsin-ChenDecember 31, 2014 at 12:07 AM

    Diane, happy New Year! I agree that “words spoken to small children REALLY do make a difference”! I like the materials you use in your work. Thank you for sharing.

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