Cryptography Reference
In-Depth Information
for these ideas. Perhaps you want to expose a local chemical com-
pany dumping toxic waste into the ground. Or you might be filled
with the proverbial malice aforethought and you can't wait to hatch
a maniacal plan. You might be part of that cabal of executives using
these secret algorithms to plan where and when to dump the toxic
waste. Technology is neutral.
There is some human impulse that would like to believe that all
information is ordered, correct, structured, organized, and above all
true. We dream that computers and their vast collection of trivia
about the world will keep us safe, secure, and moving toward some
glorious goal, even if we don't know what it is. We hope that the
databases held by the government, the banks, the insurance compa-
nies, the retail stores, the doctors, and practically everyone else will
deliver unto us a perfectly ordered world.
Alas, nothing could be farther from the truth. Even the bits can
hide multiple meanings. They're supposed to be either on or off, true
or false, 0 or 1, but even the bits can conspire to carry secret messages
and hidden truths. Information is not as certain or as precise as it
may seem to be. Sometimes a cigar carries a freight train load of
meaning and sometimes it is just a cigar. Sometimes it is close and
no cigar at all.
Throughout it all, only a human can make sense of it. Only a
human can determine the difference between an obscene allusion
to a cigar and reference to an object for delivering nicotine. We keep
hoping that artificial intelligence and database engines will be able
to parse all of the data, all of the facts, and all of the bits and identify
the terrorists who need punishing, the good people who need help,
and the split ends that need another dose of special conditioner.
You, the reader, are the human who must decide how to use the
information in this topic. You can solve crimes, coordinate a wed-
ding, plan a love that will last forever, or concoct dastardly schemes.
The technology is neutral. The topic is just equations on a page. You
will determine what the equations mean for the world.
