Automation, a curse or a blessing?

When reading through this discourse, I was inadvertently seized by feelings of insecurity, a common fault with people who suffer from perfectionism, a sin almost as deadly as ignorance. My insecurity is inspired by my idea that much more research should take place into the matters described in this discourse. Much of the terminology used was feebly defined, and if we look through a magnifying glass we can see many lacunas. The question is whether an even greater mass of words would contribute to a more fundamental insight.

Honesty compels me to admit that I like working on this subject. A joy that can be understood from the beauty aspect of Diotima, and that is slightly blurred by the ego-induced inclination towards preacherism (not too unusual at the Vrije Universiteit, perhaps). Writing down the eventual text was quite an undertaking, to which the famous words of the poets applied: ‘Ten percent inspiration, ninety percent perspiration’.

As I tried to say at the beginning of my discourse, the meaning of reason lies in the sound of what is spoken, which should also be enough to convey the meaning. At first, I therefore did not intend to commit this speech to paper. I am, however, often told that my pronunciation is not too good, something which may prevent the true sound from sounding. The fact that (so far) I haven’t learned to use a word processor (which some of my colleagues consider to be a mental handicap) gave me the idea to write the speech down manually. My lack of time, however, and the helpfulness of my secretary (Marijke van Mulligen) have eventually led to the fact that, in spite of the admonition of King Thamos of Egypt, you are now looking at a typed text and that I have bowed to the computer god.

With such a speech, it is customary to express my thanks to all who have consciously or unconsciously contributed to the conditioning of my mind, or who have tried to wake me up occasionally. I express my thanks to the people who are listed in my dissertation, to which list I want to add the four children we had the privilege of raising after that.

More explicitly, however, some of the qualities of the IT company CAP must be mentioned (its clearest exponents between brackets) that have greatly influenced my performance: true Dutch down-to-earthness (Chris van Breugel), sound formulations (Rob Starreveld), brilliant displays (Hans Boom) and terminological purity (Gertjan Vlasblom). The anti-authoritarian and anti-bureaucratic atmosphere (Wim Heukels) keeps you with both feet on the ground.

My philosophical inspiration was largely drawn from the conversations I had the privilege of having at the School of Philosophy over the past thirteen years. I expressly wish to mention the names of Mr. Van Oyen and Mr. Siero.

Finally, it should be remarked that the various observations about the role of automation are only part of my own rational insight, and that integrating them with day-to-day performance remains a constant struggle. Psychologists even say that it takes at least five years for rational matters to permeate one's performance. However, we have a famous Zealand saying: ‘Luctor et emergo.’