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October 16, 2002

Commonplaces
Posted by Teresa at 09:19 PM *

Heard from Avram Grumer: “Any sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from believing that everyone else is psychic.”

Comments on Commonplaces:
#1 ::: John Farrell ::: (view all by) ::: October 17, 2002, 12:35 PM:

Any sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from believing that everyone else is psychic.

This sounds delightfully like Strong Bad's "A One that is not a Cold One, is Scarcely a One at All."

#2 ::: Stefan Jones ::: (view all by) ::: October 17, 2002, 05:32 PM:

Similar in spirit too:

A sufficiently advanced stupidity cannot distinguish between technology and magic.

#3 ::: Emmet O'Brien ::: (view all by) ::: October 18, 2002, 04:53 PM:

I've always thought Clarke's Third Law was topologically identical to the Turing Test, it just depends on the angle of observation; Stefan's observation kinds of fits halfway along, though I would call it trusting nature rather than stupidity. After all, ATMs pass the Turing Test to the extent that I've seen little old ladies thank them.

It's the same sort of isomorphism as "Information wants to be free" has with the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

#4 ::: Jeremy Leader ::: (view all by) ::: November 01, 2002, 05:37 PM:

If information wants to be free, what does freedom want? To be informed?

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