Page 15 - Like No Business I Know

Boilerplate and the Second Law

same name. I mean human language stripped down and standardized,
codified to a minimal transmission. Look what’s already happened.
The written word is going fast. Does it have a future? Symbols of
language started as spoken word, then written, then typed.”
“At the same time, we have what’s called a ‘post-literate’ culture;
which means illiterate. Why? Television. Passive reception of audio-
visual stimuli leads to sharp decline in human linguistic skills. Schools
don’t teach—and students won’t learn—subjects of questionable
relevance. Success today has nothing to do with ability to read, write,
or speak well. Correct spelling, pronunciation, and grammar fast
losing any functional importance—even common metaphors and
figures of speech increasingly scrambled and devoid of logic.”
Attorcoppe blinked and wiped his brow with the back of the
papers in his hand.
“So what, you may ask. Well, at present we have video screens
displaying words typed in by a human operator, and printers
reproducing those words so they can be read. But computers go
beyond those simple typewriter functions—they are editing tools. In
just a few years, word-processing programs evolved into virtually-
necessary aids to writing; today they have a dictionary, a thesaurus,
and a syntax checker built in. Now, I don’t believe in artificial
intelligence, but software mimicking linguistic functions will continue
to increase in sophistication. That fact of commercial and technical
exploitation, plus the downward slide in literacy, is the basis of my
idea. Do you follow me, Mr. Lazaretto?”
The other man nodded. He made no notes, the entire conversation
being recorded surreptitiously.
“It seems probable to me,” continued Attorcoppe, “that very soon
a person who doesn’t quite know how to read and write and a
computer program that almost knows how to read and write will
together be able to produce something that looks a lot like writing.
This will be accomplished by formularizing the components of every
conceivable type of document. Instead of composing sentences, the
human participant will navigate through a series of choices offered by
the machine. Whole chunks of canned text will be tailored with key
words and phrases to alter tone and content. The iron law that
whatever can be described can be automated applies to writing no
less than it does to industrial processes. And the acceptability of non-

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