Why Do Computers Experience Burnout?

In “Do Computers experience Burnout?” Barbara Benagh examines whether we as a society value human life too much, and whether we are willing to sacrifice it in the name of a computer. Burnout, she points out, is the state in which a person experiences sudden and inexplicable exhaustion from their use of a computer, sometimes for no apparent reason. Burnout occurs when there is such a loss of productivity from such things as work stress, illness, and sleep. Not only can Burnout be an extremely frustrating experience, but Benagh points out that in the age of the Internet, information can reach literally millions of people, instantly.

Do Computers experience Burnout because we are allowing too much information to pass through our minds at once? Burnout, she contends, can occur if we do not have enough time left to process the information that passes through our minds. If we spend our days processing more information as the day goes on, then we are literally burning up precious brain time, and our conscious mind cannot process all of this information. What has happened to the fun, creative, playful mind that was stored in our brains since birth, she wonders.

Does computers have the nature of a “singularity?” Benagh wonders. If the singularity feeling has been going on since the beginning of the universe, what does it mean to us now? Do computers have the power to give us knowledge or do we need more of both? And how does “creativity” relate to the singularity feeling?