Arthur C. Clarke: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

[starkrg@myside-yourside.net]

@FlohEinstein Magic is just technology you don't understand.

[jerrej@mastodon.social]

@FlohEinstein

Conversely: "Any sufficiently simple-seeming problem invites a similarly simple, yet, crude, solution." In other words: "If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." I am pretty sure that's how ACC derived his popular phrase.

But I am probably wrong, because of my hammer.

[nlupo@amikejo.xyz]

@FlohEinstein Why I'm cursed with the Android curse then

[sb@metroholografix.ca]

@FlohEinstein
One time when working a Dev job writing and fixing Java, I had this insane bug that kept cropping up, but seemingly had no cause.

I decided I'd better walk away from the problem for a bit, so I opened up kijiji and wrote a classified ad looking for a witch doctor to reverse the curse on my code (which I had decided was a *mummy's curse*).

I got two replies right away. One was from a friend who had correctly guessed I was behind the ad. The second was a Christian zealot who though I was dead serious and tried to get me to accept Jesus into my life.

I think something was stuck in a cache somewhere in the CI pipeline.

[sonikku@techhub.social]

@FlohEinstein our technology is absolutely magic.

Think of computers and processors, we literally etch patterns into rocks and metals and then make it think by inducing it with lightning.

Explaining that shit 300 years ago would have gotten you burned at the stake.

[lorenz@c.im]

@FlohEinstein

[hashraydamon@me.dm]

@FlohEinstein now that's a good way to put it

[stonebear2@hachyderm.io]

@FlohEinstein 10/10, no lies detected. 🧙‍️

[hypolite@friendica.mrpetovan.com]

@Sonikku @FlohEinstein Thinking? Hardly, unless you have a very limited definition of thought. Don’t get me wrong, it still is magic to me, but computers don’t “think” in any meaningful way.

[jargoggles@kolektiva.social]

@madengineering @FlohEinstein
I think we can safely say that *all* printers are cursed.

And just in case anyone brings up Brother printers - they might be the least cursed, but they're still cursed.

[fluentinfinance@mastodon.social]

Every bug has two parts.

The thing that’s broken.

And the part where it waits until Friday at 4:59 PM to reveal itself. lol.

@FlohEinstein

[fedihacker@masto.es]

@FlohEinstein MMmmmmhhhhh yesss!

[rayotron@mstdn.social]

@FlohEinstein I imagine Spock would raise an eyebrow and say "Logical."

[foxyloon@blimps.xyz]

@FlohEinstein And I keep getting cursed over and over

[iaintshootinmis@digitaldarkage.cc]

@FlohEinstein I love this. Can I share and attribute this to you?

[drwho@masto.hackers.town]

@FlohEinstein Truth!

May I quote you on that?

[floheinstein@chaos.social]

@iaintshootinmis of course, as with everything I say or post, it's CC-BY-SA

[muri@troet.cafe]

@FlohEinstein and the more complicated command line tools even require n curses to do their magic!

[floheinstein@chaos.social]

@drwho of course, my utterings are CC-BY-SA

[nathanmurdock@mastodon.social]

@FlohEinstein

This lends toward there being a specific ratio of Mysticism to Explanability, of course Multiplied by Coefficient of Human Stupidity...

Oh dear, help us all if Raised to the Power of AI... if we dare.

Yep, it's basically philosophical mathematics. I knew first year Philosophy Class would pay off one day!