Fields and Dreemz

"Human vs. Machine", courtesy of JennyConnected on Wordpress

A few days ago, I wrote about parenting in the internet age and the avalanche of technology that will have a tremendous effect on my kids as they grow up. While pecking at my keyboard I spied the dog-eared copy of W.P. Kinsella’s mystical baseball novella, Shoeless Joe, in my bookcase. That eased my introspection.

I first read Kinsella’s work not long after Hollywood’s take on the book, “Field of Dreams,” starring Kevin Costner, charmed North Americans in the late 1980s. The book was filled with wonder about life, the afterlife, and how people handle metaphysical curveballs pitched to them. It’s a work replete with plot twists focused on dreams, hopes and second-guessing on choices made. Gooey feelings galore. I saw the movie with my mom, who was pregnant with my younger brother at the time, because I thought she would enjoy the underlying spiritual themes. I went on to relish Kinsella’s many baseball stories in addition to learning about Canada’s indigenous peoples, of which he also used humorous storytelling to inform with wit and grace. His stories entertained, and made me think about how I approached and dealt with the unknowns, and failures, that all young adults grapple with.

Here’s the tie-in with the technology element in the previous post. People like booing umpires after a call is made that we don’t agree with, even when we know the umps are probably right. It’s contradictory and defies rational thinking. They’re human, therefore fallible, those damn umps. But who doesn’t enjoy the theater of the manager ambling out to do verbal battle with the umpire crew chief on a questionable call? Even if he knows he’s in the wrong, the manager will argue and put on a show, sometimes get thrown out of the game, just to show his allegiance and rally the fans and his team. It’s a human reaction. Calling balls and strikes, or making close calls just by the sound of a ball hitting a glove, is nigh impossible to get right every time. But we accept that. 

Thank you, ESPN

Since 2011, ESPN’s K-Zone – a square representing the player’s non-official strike zone superimposed on the TV screen for viewers -- has been visible during its ballgame broadcasts. Traditionalists decry it, claiming it removes human judgement and control from the game. Others think it makes baseball games move faster, with more precision and impartiality. Machines and radar don’t have biases.

Both sides are right. For me the K-zone and other adjustments to baseball are reminders that faith in our humanity and our imperfect ways will continue to triumph over the tech tools we create to assist us. But that’s the same reason I like umpires, not computers, making the final call on a ball or a strike. It’s because of the fallibility of man, the mystery of life, and accepting occasional value judgments rather than cold, binary yes/no decisions.

If I can divine some larger philosophical significance from a book about baseball then certainly the future technology that awaits today’s kids will continue to serve them if we don't delegate control too much. The man versus machine debate will not fade away. Zeros and ones do not govern our squishy thinking. Nor do they determine if a pitch is called a ball or strike. 
The kids will be alright.