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Author Topic:   How bad is your googling habit and what does it mean?
Fosdick 
Suspended Member (Idle past 5519 days)
Posts: 1793
From: Upper Slobovia
Joined: 12-11-2006


Message 106 of 120 (433313)
11-11-2007 10:59 AM
Reply to: Message 105 by Hyroglyphx
11-10-2007 11:51 PM


Re: computers know?
NJ writes:
Computers only function in the way the programmer (the actual intelligence behind the computer) tells it to, in an unthinking, mechanical way.
So humans come into this world already programmed to play chess? I don't think so. They need programming and a lot of it just to avoid a fool's mate. Try the Turing Test on Deep Blue and see what you get. For both humans and computers it's garbage in-garbage out.
”HM

This message is a reply to:
 Message 105 by Hyroglyphx, posted 11-10-2007 11:51 PM Hyroglyphx has not replied

  
Fosdick 
Suspended Member (Idle past 5519 days)
Posts: 1793
From: Upper Slobovia
Joined: 12-11-2006


Message 107 of 120 (433316)
11-11-2007 11:09 AM
Reply to: Message 104 by ringo
11-10-2007 9:54 PM


Re: computers know?
Ringo writes:
A human programming another human makes no more sense than a Model A driving another model A.
Your analogy is silly. What about a computer programming another computer. What about a computer programming a human? Humans can teach humans math, humans can teach computers math, computers can teach computers math, and computers can teach humans math. We have to be programmed (or taught) at one time or another.
But maybe things are different up there in the wastelands of Canuckistan.
”HM
Edited by Hoot Mon, : changed Percy to Ringo

This message is a reply to:
 Message 104 by ringo, posted 11-10-2007 9:54 PM ringo has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 108 by ringo, posted 11-11-2007 12:26 PM Fosdick has replied

  
ringo
Member (Idle past 431 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


Message 108 of 120 (433330)
11-11-2007 12:26 PM
Reply to: Message 107 by Fosdick
11-11-2007 11:09 AM


Re: computers know?
Hoot Mon writes:
What about a computer programming another computer.
Happens all the time.
What about a computer programming a human?
Can't happen because humans aren't programable.
Humans can teach humans math, humans can teach computers math, computers can teach computers math, and computers can teach humans math. We have to be programmed (or taught) at one time or another.
Teaching is not programming.
Programming is strictly a one-way street - human/machine, master/slave, driver/vehicle. Teaching is two-way. Teachers have to learn before they can teach. Teachers learn by teaching.
But maybe things are different up there in the wastelands of Canuckistan.
It's windy today (and Google didn't program me to say that).

“Faith moves mountains, but only knowledge moves them to the right place”
-- Joseph Goebbels
-------------
Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

This message is a reply to:
 Message 107 by Fosdick, posted 11-11-2007 11:09 AM Fosdick has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 109 by Fosdick, posted 11-11-2007 12:38 PM ringo has replied

  
Fosdick 
Suspended Member (Idle past 5519 days)
Posts: 1793
From: Upper Slobovia
Joined: 12-11-2006


Message 109 of 120 (433335)
11-11-2007 12:38 PM
Reply to: Message 108 by ringo
11-11-2007 12:26 PM


Re: computers know?
Ringo writes:
Can't happen because humans aren't programable...Teaching is not programming.
Close enough for government work and to make an argument that when a kid recites his multiplication tables he is being programmed to do mathematics. No need to be fussy about a distinction between programnming and teaching. And forget your two-way streets, unless you're willing to admit that computer programming is also iterational.
”HM

This message is a reply to:
 Message 108 by ringo, posted 11-11-2007 12:26 PM ringo has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 110 by jar, posted 11-11-2007 12:43 PM Fosdick has replied
 Message 112 by ringo, posted 11-11-2007 1:10 PM Fosdick has replied

  
jar
Member (Idle past 413 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


Message 110 of 120 (433336)
11-11-2007 12:43 PM
Reply to: Message 109 by Fosdick
11-11-2007 12:38 PM


Re: computers know?
The difference is that learning can be initiated by the student, and with a purpose. The computer does not decide which programs it will accept or search out new programs to try.

Aslan is not a Tame Lion

This message is a reply to:
 Message 109 by Fosdick, posted 11-11-2007 12:38 PM Fosdick has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 111 by Fosdick, posted 11-11-2007 12:56 PM jar has replied

  
Fosdick 
Suspended Member (Idle past 5519 days)
Posts: 1793
From: Upper Slobovia
Joined: 12-11-2006


Message 111 of 120 (433337)
11-11-2007 12:56 PM
Reply to: Message 110 by jar
11-11-2007 12:43 PM


Re: computers know?
Port-Darwinian evolution of the human species may include the principle of recursive bootstrapping, wherein the computers keep humans around to make more copies of them”computers, that is”and to make them better, too. In return we get googled. Yes, we may be transiting into Digitalea. And to say we humans are not programmable is to ignore religion, hypnosis, consumerism, racism, professional sports, Hitler Youth, and the Holocaust.
”HM

This message is a reply to:
 Message 110 by jar, posted 11-11-2007 12:43 PM jar has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 115 by jar, posted 11-11-2007 2:44 PM Fosdick has replied

  
ringo
Member (Idle past 431 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


Message 112 of 120 (433338)
11-11-2007 1:10 PM
Reply to: Message 109 by Fosdick
11-11-2007 12:38 PM


Re: computers know?
Hoot Mon writes:
... when a kid recites his multiplication tables he is being programmed to do mathematics.
Learning the multiplication tables is just storage - assignment to an array.
Learning how to do mathematics is another thing entirely - learning how to apply one set of data (multiplication table) to another set of data (problem) to come up with a third set of data (solution).
And forget your two-way streets, unless you're willing to admit that computer programming is also iterational.
Computer operation is iterational. Computer programming isn't.

“Faith moves mountains, but only knowledge moves them to the right place”
-- Joseph Goebbels
-------------
Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

This message is a reply to:
 Message 109 by Fosdick, posted 11-11-2007 12:38 PM Fosdick has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 113 by Fosdick, posted 11-11-2007 2:14 PM ringo has not replied
 Message 114 by crashfrog, posted 11-11-2007 2:24 PM ringo has replied

  
Fosdick 
Suspended Member (Idle past 5519 days)
Posts: 1793
From: Upper Slobovia
Joined: 12-11-2006


Message 113 of 120 (433350)
11-11-2007 2:14 PM
Reply to: Message 112 by ringo
11-11-2007 1:10 PM


Re: computers know?
Ringo writes:
Computer operation is iterational. Computer programming isn't.
Why isn't it. When I used to program computers it was very interational.
”HM

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 Message 112 by ringo, posted 11-11-2007 1:10 PM ringo has not replied

  
crashfrog
Member (Idle past 1486 days)
Posts: 19762
From: Silver Spring, MD
Joined: 03-20-2003


Message 114 of 120 (433354)
11-11-2007 2:24 PM
Reply to: Message 112 by ringo
11-11-2007 1:10 PM


Re: computers know?
Computer operation is iterational. Computer programming isn't.
Wait, what? Iterative programming was one of the earliest concepts we studied in Comp Sci I, right after recursion. Isn't your basic "for" loop an example of iterative programming?
Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean by the term.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 112 by ringo, posted 11-11-2007 1:10 PM ringo has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 117 by ringo, posted 11-11-2007 4:13 PM crashfrog has replied

  
jar
Member (Idle past 413 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


Message 115 of 120 (433360)
11-11-2007 2:44 PM
Reply to: Message 111 by Fosdick
11-11-2007 12:56 PM


Re: computers know?
Port-Darwinian evolution of the human species may include the principle of recursive bootstrapping, wherein the computers keep humans around to make more copies of them”computers, that is”and to make them better, too.
Okay, a nice sketch for a Sci-Fi story that ends with the Butlerian Jihad but as in the polio thread and others, you simply have provided no support that something like that is happening.

Aslan is not a Tame Lion

This message is a reply to:
 Message 111 by Fosdick, posted 11-11-2007 12:56 PM Fosdick has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 116 by Fosdick, posted 11-11-2007 4:10 PM jar has not replied

  
Fosdick 
Suspended Member (Idle past 5519 days)
Posts: 1793
From: Upper Slobovia
Joined: 12-11-2006


Message 116 of 120 (433380)
11-11-2007 4:10 PM
Reply to: Message 115 by jar
11-11-2007 2:44 PM


Google to the rescue
jar writes:
Okay, a nice sketch for a Sci-Fi story that ends with the Butlerian Jihad but as in the polio thread and others, you simply have provided no support that something like that is happening.
I wonder how to go about finding that support. Hmmm...let me see...
”HM

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 Message 115 by jar, posted 11-11-2007 2:44 PM jar has not replied

  
ringo
Member (Idle past 431 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


Message 117 of 120 (433381)
11-11-2007 4:13 PM
Reply to: Message 114 by crashfrog
11-11-2007 2:24 PM


Re: computers know?
crashfrog writes:
Iterative programming was one of the earliest concepts we studied in Comp Sci I, right after recursion. Isn't your basic "for" loop an example of iterative programming?
My terminology is probably off. Certainly, the machine executes instructions iteratively and programs often perform iterations.
I understood (or possibly misunderstood) Hoot Mon to suggest that the act of writing programs is iterative.
When I talk about "programming a computer", I mean writing the programs, not just loading them and executing them. By analogy, "programming a child" would involve devising a particular set of instructions that the child would always follow to get the desired output.
While it's possible to produce a kind of "Pavlov" response to certain inputs, I'd hardly call that programming.

“Faith moves mountains, but only knowledge moves them to the right place”
-- Joseph Goebbels
-------------
Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

This message is a reply to:
 Message 114 by crashfrog, posted 11-11-2007 2:24 PM crashfrog has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 118 by crashfrog, posted 11-11-2007 8:55 PM ringo has replied

  
crashfrog
Member (Idle past 1486 days)
Posts: 19762
From: Silver Spring, MD
Joined: 03-20-2003


Message 118 of 120 (433410)
11-11-2007 8:55 PM
Reply to: Message 117 by ringo
11-11-2007 4:13 PM


Re: computers know?
I understood (or possibly misunderstood) Hoot Mon to suggest that the act of writing programs is iterative.
Unless I still don't understand what you mean by "iterative" - and this might very well be because I don't know much about educational theory - I think you could make an argument that writing a program was frequently iterative; generally you block out the general structure of a program, using placeholders for functions, then going back and filling in the blanks, then going back and debugging (repeat this last about 20 times), etc.
I don't mean to sandbag you with nit-picking, of course, I'm just trying to arrive at a sense of what you're saying.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 117 by ringo, posted 11-11-2007 4:13 PM ringo has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 119 by ringo, posted 11-11-2007 10:32 PM crashfrog has replied

  
ringo
Member (Idle past 431 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


Message 119 of 120 (433426)
11-11-2007 10:32 PM
Reply to: Message 118 by crashfrog
11-11-2007 8:55 PM


Re: computers know?
crashfrog writes:
I think you could make an argument that writing a program was frequently iterative; generally you block out the general structure of a program, using placeholders for functions, then going back and filling in the blanks, then going back and debugging (repeat this last about 20 times), etc.
That isn't really iteration though, is it? It isn't doing the same thing over and over again. It's doing different things in the same place.
... I'm just trying to arrive at a sense of what you're saying.
The whole "iteration" thing is fairly irrelevant, I think. My point was more that a programmer gives instructions which the computer follows to the letter. A teacher, on the other hand, passes on information (and information on how to deal with information) - not a prescribed, stepwise process.
A computer can only do exactly what it's told. Garbage in, garbage out. But if a teacher does a good job, the student will say, "Hey, wait a minute. This is garbage."
(I appreciate the nit-picking. It made more sense the first time I said it - which is probably not a good sign. )

“Faith moves mountains, but only knowledge moves them to the right place”
-- Joseph Goebbels
-------------
Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

This message is a reply to:
 Message 118 by crashfrog, posted 11-11-2007 8:55 PM crashfrog has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 120 by crashfrog, posted 11-11-2007 10:44 PM ringo has not replied

  
crashfrog
Member (Idle past 1486 days)
Posts: 19762
From: Silver Spring, MD
Joined: 03-20-2003


Message 120 of 120 (433428)
11-11-2007 10:44 PM
Reply to: Message 119 by ringo
11-11-2007 10:32 PM


Re: computers know?
Fair enough. I guess the problem was an unfortunate choice of words; you inadvertently used a term that had a different meaning in computer science.
But, I kind of get the sense of what you're saying. Some learning is iterative, though; learning by rote, for instance. That's proved not to be especially instructive, though, which I think proves your point.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 119 by ringo, posted 11-11-2007 10:32 PM ringo has not replied

  
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