- H alf ▁of ▁a ▁Man if esto " ▁( 2 0 0 0 ) ▁▁ ▁In ▁" One - H alf ▁a ▁Man if esto ", ▁Lan ier ▁critic izes ▁the ▁claims ▁made ▁by ▁writers ▁such ▁as ▁Ray ▁Kurz we il , ▁and ▁oppos es ▁the ▁prospect ▁of ▁so - called ▁" cy ber net ic ▁total ism ", ▁which ▁is ▁" a ▁c ata c ly sm ▁brought ▁on ▁when ▁computers ▁become ▁ult ra - int ellig ent ▁master s ▁of ▁matter ▁and ▁life ." ▁Lan ier ' s ▁position ▁is ▁that ▁humans ▁may ▁not ▁be ▁considered ▁to ▁be ▁bi ological ▁computers , ▁i . e ., ▁they ▁may ▁not ▁be ▁compared ▁to ▁digital ▁computers ▁in ▁any ▁proper ▁sense , ▁and ▁it ▁is ▁very ▁unlikely ▁that ▁humans ▁could ▁be ▁generally ▁replaced ▁by ▁computers ▁easily ▁in ▁a ▁few ▁dec ades , ▁even ▁econom ically . ▁While ▁trans istor ▁count ▁increases ▁according ▁to ▁Moore ' s ▁law , ▁overall ▁performance ▁r ises ▁only ▁very ▁slowly . ▁According ▁to ▁Lan ier , ▁this ▁is ▁because ▁human ▁product ivity ▁in ▁developing ▁software ▁increases ▁only ▁slightly , ▁and ▁software ▁becomes ▁more ▁blo ated ▁and ▁remains ▁as ▁error - pr one ▁as ▁it ▁ever ▁was . ▁" S imp ly ▁put , ▁software ▁just ▁won ' t ▁allow ▁it . ▁Code ▁can ' t ▁keep ▁up ▁with ▁processing ▁power ▁now , ▁and ▁it ▁never ▁will ." ▁At ▁the ▁end ▁he ▁war ns ▁that ▁the ▁biggest ▁problem ▁of ▁any ▁theory ▁( esp . ▁ide ology ) ▁is ▁not