Synthesis

All the constituent terms of the delineation of creativity utterly lacking in the decision correlate or differentiate, in complementary and mutually reinforcing ways, with computability.

• • ‘[S]o mechanical or routine’ (Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Service Co., Inc., 1991, p. 362) was consistent with the gestalt effect of correspondence and also contained a directly correlating and a complementary, and differentiating, element. ‘[S]o mechanical’ (p. 362) conceptually and verbally correlated with an automatic mechanical procedure. ‘[S]o routine’ (p. 362) signaled a complementary and differentiating element, of routinicity.
• • ‘[E]ntirely typical ... end product ... garden’ (Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Service Co., Inc., 1991, pp. 362-363) could be understood as the product of established mechanical procedures and highly routine processes.
• • ‘[C]ould not be more obvious ... the most basic information’ was semantically cognate with the routine and also reminiscent of computational contexts.
• • ‘[Dictated by state law’ (Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Service Co., Inc., 1991, p. 362) was reminiscent in its meaning with widely diffused understandings of the computational process.
• • The sequence of clauses with a historical resonance - ‘an age-old practice, firmly rooted in tradition and so commonplace that it has come to be expected as a matter of course ... practically inevitable ... time-honored tradition’ (Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Service Co., Inc., 1991, pp. 362-363) -correlated with what would naturally be regarded as computable and with the absolute in the theory of computability, which is primarily concerned with automatic processes.

The initial gestalt effect of an analogy between creativity utterly lacking and computability has been rendered specific, by linking the historical in the opinion with the natural in understandings of computability and ‘so mechanical’ (Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Service Co., Inc., 1991, p. 362) with an automatic mechanical procedure.

Considering the correlating elements of the decision together can enhance the conviction to be attached to each correlation and to the correlation considered as a whole. The correlation of the historical in the opinion with the natural in understandings of computability complements and, by complementing, reinforces the correlation of ‘so mechanical’ (Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Service Co., Inc., 1991, p. 362) with an automatic mechanical procedure. The term, ‘information’ (p. 363), and its consistent differentiation from raw data and data, supported the relevance of the theory of computability. The correlation of creativity utterly lacking in the decision with an automatic mechanical procedure is, then, strengthened.

Considering the correlations as a whole also exposes parallels between the internal configuration of' each body of' thought. In the opinion, a direct description of type of process - as ‘so mechanical’ (Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Service Co., Inc., 1991, p. 362) - merges into a more indirect description of set of process conceived as objects for description, as ‘an age-old practice ... time-honored tradition’ (p. 363), with denotation moving toward connotation. Analogously, the direct description or denotation of the computational process as a mechanical procedure is founded on a more indirect characterization of a set of processes, as what would naturally be regarded as computable. Denotation of a type of process and indirect denotation moving toward connotation of a set of processes are, then, parallel between the opinion and understandings of the computational process and of computability' (see Figure 5.1). The movements are thematically complementary, although chronologically (understood as linear progression through a written text and as over historical time) reverse. In the opinion, the mechanical merges into the historical through the routine; for the theory of computability', historically established and routine procedures of calculation, characterized as natural, are rendered mechanical. The structural parallelism adds conviction to each of the separately established correlations and to the correlations considered as a whole.

The correlations considered together are comprehensive with regard to each correlated body of thought. All the elements in the opinion in the delineation of creativity utterly lacking (Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Service Co., Inc., 1991, pp. 362-363) have been accounted for, as correlating and differentiating elements. Centrally significant elements of understandings of the computational process and of computability are similarly all included, at the level of concepts -of an automatic mechanical procedure or algorithm and of computability - and also including specific verbal formulations whose recurrence is indicative of their significance, ‘naturally be regarded as computable’ (Turing, 1936-1937/2004, p. 135). The comprehensiveness of the correlations indicates that the two bodies of thought have been fully matched.

Figure 5.1 Parallels between the judgment and computability'

The elements from the opinion directly and individually correlated with computability and routinicity, as contrasted with the more solely routine, are connected to different levels of antithesis to creativity. ‘[S]o mechanical’, ‘entirely typical ... end product ... garden-variety’ (pp. 362-363), ‘dictated by state law’, and the sequence of clauses with a historical resonance (Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Service Co., Inc., 1991, pp. 362-363) could be directly correlated with computability. The directly supporting elements of the correlation, then, exist exclusively within, and fully occupy, the clauses corresponding to the extreme antithesis to creativity, to ‘no creativity whatsoever’ and ‘nothing remotely creative’ (Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Service Co., Inc., 1991, pp. 362-363). They can all be directly connected with the extreme antithesis to creativity' and also be considered to encompass its complement. The more solely routine elements are connected with a milder antithesis, or the complement, ‘insufficient creativity’ (p. 363). The distribution can be graphically illustrated (see Table 5.1).

Combining the recognition of the pattern of distribution by levels of antithesis to creativity with the differentiation of the routine can yield a further analytic gain. An automatic computational process emerges as the extreme antithesis to creativity, while routinicity can be regarded as a less extreme antithesis. Routinicity, in addition to being ‘could not be more obvious ... the most basic information’ (Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Service Co., Inc., 1991, p. 362), can also be

Table 5.1 Computability' and routinicity and levels of antithesis to creativity'

consistently understood as semantically contiguous to computability and to the extreme absence of creativity and as possibly mediating to the creative.

We can consider how far the correlation established is widely acceptable, by turning to widespread discourse and practice. Some evidence of a parallel position developing in ordinary discourse is offered by a judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which itself cites the Feist (Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Service Co., Inc., 1991) standard of originality.

West concedes that the pagination of its volumes ... is determined by an automatic computer program, and West does not seriously claim that there is anything original or creative in that process.

(West, 1998, p. 12)

The citation supports the correlation (although it does not amount to an exploration of the significance of the correlation, as conducted in this work). The phrasing, ‘does not seriously claim’ (West, 1998, p. 12), further suggests that idea of a computational process as being without creativity is entering ordinary discourse. Correspondence to ordinary discourse indicates that the correlation is grounded in our collective consciousness.

The diffusion of the computer can account for the emergence of the correlation in ordinary discourse. The computer has become the dominant instrument of mental labor in the twenty-first century, on a global basis. We could further say that processes have first been routinized and then mechanized, further accounting for the contiguity of routinicity to computability within creativity utterly lacking. The concept of computability is regarded as a bedrock concept, which has not been disproved (Cockshott and Michaelson, 2007). Global diffusion of the computer and the foundational status of computability give global and deep value to the correlation.