IP: Dyson/Baran

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 16:31:15 -0700
To: gdyson () cc wwu edu
From: Paul Baran <paul () baran com>
Subject: Re: your message
Cc: farber () cis upenn edu, willis () rand org




Dear David Farber, and associates,


I was, to say the least, astonished (with delight) to receive a copy of
the comments by Willis Ware and Paul Baran that appeared on your list on
May 25 (re: Darwin Among the Machines). To see my attempt at historical
story-telling endorsed by these two pioneers, eyewitnesses who made so
much history happen with their own hands and minds, is almost as
unexpected as a message from Erasmus Darwin or Robert Hooke.


As to where in the world I found all the sources quoted in the book, the
truth is I stayed put here in Bellingham, Washington ("the city of subdued
excitement") and turned almost everything up through our small university
library, with help from interlibrary loan. (And no small credit to the
Charles Babbage Institute's oral history collection, and Rand's unmatched
habit of keeping _all_ its publications in print). Many times I thought
about contacting Baran and Ware, but assumed they had much better things
to do than answering questions from some neophyte writing a book.


with many thanks (and one question: how do I get on your list?),




George B. Dyson                                        gdyson () cc wwu edu
----------------------------------------------


Dear George:


Thank you for your note.  And, thank you for not contacting me while you
were writing your book.  This is not because I wouldn't enjoy sharing a
beer or two with you. I would be delighted to do so.  Rather, yours is a
book primarily based on contemporaneous written records, in lieu of the
usual latter day personal remembrances.


I am continually amused by how we humans are so inclined by nature to
completely trust our own memories even though we know that everyone else's
memories are prone to self deception. An inordinate number of otherwise
sober, upstanding citizens claim to have been abducted, or at least visited
by alien flying saucers.  Or, in a previous era, were able to recall
hearing ghosts. True believers pass lie detector detectors without a quiver
of the oscillograph's needle.


I am fascinated with the ease which some, generally with a little nudging
from an expert practitioner, are able to recall in precise detail their
past lives (often as kings and queens but rarely peasants, a more
statistical likely situation).


Memories are wonderful things and often indispensable when writing history.
But, I have learned never to trust memories alone unless backed up by
confirmatory contemporaneous written records.  Always remember the old
First Law of Communications -- "whatever words come out of a person's mouth
will always paint that person in the most favorable light possible".  So,
George, you can understand why I say that I am glad that you didn't call me
prior to publication.


Speaking of imperfect memories, I must confess to finding myself becoming
increasingly forgetful.  But, having on many occasions watched the
Whitewater Hearings on TV and seeing a procession of obviously very bright,
articulate and compared to myself, young folks who seemed unable to
remember hardly anything at all, I am pleased to report that I am now far
less concerned by my comparatively minor memory lapses.


Paul