Computer Brains

Petra's “Computer Brains” borrows a programmer's rule, garbage in and garbage out, to talk about what people let into their minds. Four verses are listed in a header: Proverbs 23:7, 1 Peter 1:13, Philippians 4:8 and 2 Corinthians 10:5. The first verse describes memory as a record that doesn't filter on its own, “Every bit takes another bite without control over wrong or right,” and gives the fix as a rule of inspection: “You must screen every entry made, the consequences must be weighed.”

The chorus is built as a blunt slogan, “Computer brains, put garbage in / Computer brains, get garbage out,” followed by the more pointed “Computer brains, programming you / What can you do?” The second verse asks, “Are you a user or being used, has your memory been abused?” and suggests a practical answer, to sample your own thoughts and “analyze what you may find.” It ends with a calming alternative, “Think on the things that will bring you peace, confusing data soon will cease.”

The line about holding every thought captive is 2 Corinthians 10:5, and “think on the things that will bring you peace” echoes Philippians 4:8. Proverbs 23:7, that a person is what they think in their heart, is the basis for the whole argument.