Hardware and Software: Expanded Cinema by Gene Youngblood

The similarity of brain and logics to the computer’s hardware and software is a good point on the book Expanded Cinema. In the chapter “Hardware and Software”, the author simplifies the communication between our brain and the machine, noting that the information passed along is translate from thought the programming language.

As web designers, we experience this process daily. As front end designers we may not be always in touch with certain languages, but HTML, CSS and JS are the language in which we translate our sense of design. Being fluent in these “languages”, help our brain to turn thoughts into visual elements.

The relationship between “our” hardware and software is astonishing. Every time we learn a new subject, language, trick or any simple thing, we are working to “update” the software in our brains. Beyond all this, I believe that we designers have a big responsibility to be updating out knowledge regularly, because technology in general follows a fast paced modernization. 

As the author notes as well, such growth on technology and its capabilities  may lead to the invention of machines that are more creative than ourselves. However, I still believe that no machine is able to function perfectly without a human brain to maintain it. Nature gave birth to man, so I don’t think human creativity can be defeated by hardware and software.