informatics and self

We call it "Information Technology". How often do we stop to consider what that means?

I'm in this profession by my proclivity and my choice. I work with machines that transform and process information, telling them how to do that, and in certain cases what kind of information they should accept or emit. I can write a program on one machine and give it to another, and by miracles of engineering that machine will run the program the same as the one I wrote it on (more or less, anyways; this is thanks to higher-level languages and virtual machines).

What do I want to do with this power? I want to transmit information to my fellow humans; I want to transmit art, truth, and beauty; I want to transmit information that is useful to us -- that will help us as stewards of this world.

Are computers, as we know them, necessary for this? Are there not other ways to achieve these ends? What is the cost of computing? I crave information systems that are holistic. I see a wonderful world of permacomputing becoming possible with a new evolution in consciousness. Is this just ego attempting to preserve its hold on a skill it has found? Or is there something really valuable in it?

This world is precious, and our time is finite. What we choose to spend our time doing is of the utmost importance. I suppose I'm striving for a balance between what I'm good at (and an aesthetic I'm attracted to), and what's really important moving forward.