Words of Computing & "Defrag"

A few days ago my roommate and I discussed the importance of taking some time to unwind and relax. He said, "It's nice to just defrag once in a while you know" (or something like that.) I realized that "defrag" is a term that certainly was not used popularly before the PC era, but it perfectly describes a way that the brain operates--at least it describes a way that we imagine the brain operates.

Currently, the most appropriate metaphor for the human brain is that it is a computer . We can actually observe most of the functions of the human brain, but from personal experience and the limited reaches of science we have some idea about how it works. And so we compare it to a computer because that helps us imagine or visualize it. 

What was the most appropriate and/or popular metaphor for the brain before computers existed? Perhaps it was a steam powered machine. Maybe it was a printing press. I don't know. The point is, part of the New Aesthetic is not visible, it is vernacular. And popular technology helps people make sense of the world in new ways, asymptotically approaching the true essence of a thing.

The "Disc Defragmenter" image is from http://www.helppconline.org/tag/defrag/