On the Future Computer Era Modification of the American Character (1968)

A warning that unintended but disastrous effects on society have resulted from improved and computerized recordkeeping, owing to (1) the habit of limiting the number of variables considered to those easily quantified, (2) the tendency to use records and scores instead of judgment, and (3) the use of information to maximize private profit without regard to the damage inflicted by everybody doing this at once. The paper was a product of the RAND Corporation from 1948 to 2003 that captured speeches, memorials, and derivative research, usually prepared on authors’ own time and meant to be the scholarly or scientific contribution of individual authors to their professional fields. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND Permissions page.

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