Re: You just READ the Google homepage. What actually happened?
Posted by Carl Tollander on Mar 22, 2013; 12:38am
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Fwd-You-just-went-to-the-Google-homepage-What-actually-happened-tp7582191p7582217.html
You just READ the Google homepage. What actually happened? How do you digest your dinner? The problem at hand is not a new one.
Couple years ago (2011), David Krakauer gave the Ulam lecture, which had some observations on outsourcing competencies. I seem to recall he thought it was a good and necessary thing.
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URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Fwd-You-just-went-to-the-Google-homepage-What-actually-happened-tp7582191p7582217.html
You just READ the Google homepage. What actually happened? How do you digest your dinner? The problem at hand is not a new one.
Couple years ago (2011), David Krakauer gave the Ulam lecture, which had some observations on outsourcing competencies. I seem to recall he thought it was a good and necessary thing.
On 3/21/13 5:25 PM, Joshua Thorp wrote:
Probably the issue pops up when turning the wheel doesn't have the desired effect. Without knowing more about how the car works all the user can say is "it doesn't work", and all the mechanic can say is bring it in.
Having an idea of how things are supposed to work one or two levels down can be useful when dealing with them when they don't. And knowing who to talk to, and what to say. Sure you can drive without knowing about how internal combustion works, but having an idea that gas is necessary component and when it isn't present the car won't go is also useful and could save you a headache down the road.
Seems to me the more interesting question is what level of detail should we understand something like a web page or a car. We have a fairly worked out basic level of understanding needed for operating a vehicle, but even here that level of understanding is generally going down as we lock up more and more of the operational decisions in black boxes instead of requiring the human to attend to them.
So the question is where do we stop this trend of not knowing, or do we just want to live in a point and click world where everything either works or no help but to go to the experts when it doesn't.
--joshua
On Mar 21, 2013, at 5:11 PM, Russ Abbott <[hidden email]> wrote:
The standard example is that most people can drive a car even though they don't understand how internal combustion engines work -- and they would even if the car were powered by an electric motor. I have no problem with putting that in terms of contracts: turn the steering wheel and the car wheels turn. One doesn't have to know how power steering works.============================================================
-- Russ Abbott
_____________________________________________Professor, Computer Science
California State University, Los Angeles
On Thu, Mar 21, 2013 at 3:47 PM, Gillian Densmore <[hidden email]> wrote:
where's the part of you beem into the google page: it instantly forms metrics about you and presents you with "useful" adds (as aposed to to minuses) :P
On Thu, Mar 21, 2013 at 4:00 PM, Owen Densmore <[hidden email]> wrote:
On Thu, Mar 21, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Russ Abbott <[hidden email]> wrote:
I disagree with Jean-Baptiste Query's presentation, which implies that you have to understand all levels of any process to understand the process itself. If that were true we would all have to understand quantum mechanics to understand everything. But no one understands quantum mechanics. So no one understands anything. <snip>
Well, the point is that for non tech folks, it is a tower of babble.
I like the presentation because it starts with a simple idea: view a web page, and shows the dirty little secret.
I believe it should be the intro to a book that does what I think you might prefer: top down, breadth first introduction to digitology.
Or in other words: modularity, and its implementation in standard formats and protocols. And no, modularity .. tho nice in program structure .. does not happen without the standard formats and protocols.
I have found it hard to explain modularity to non geek folks. Can you do it? Most start with code, which as I say, is wrong. But most folks understand contracts, and that leads into protocols & formats.
I tried to explain DNS once to a very very smart guy. Registrars, Name Servers, TLD hierarchy. His questions kept leading deeper into details, and made it all impossible. My poor friend actually got dizzy and ended up in tears.
-- Owen
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FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
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