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Okay, I must ask: What is the "garbage in - garbage out" law of computing?

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Sat Nov 18th, 2006 at 07:12:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Garbage In, Garbage Out (abbreviated to GIGO) is an aphorism in the field of computer science. It refers to the fact that computers, unlike humans, will unquestioningly process the most nonsensical of input data and produce nonsensical output. It was most popular in the early days of computing, but has fallen out of use as programs have become more sophisticated and now usually have checks built in to reject improper input.
The last line is an example of hubris.

Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. -- Euripides
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Nov 18th, 2006 at 07:35:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]
(that's from wikipedia, by the way)

Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. -- Euripides
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Nov 18th, 2006 at 07:36:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]
... computers, unlike humans, will unquestioningly process the most nonsensical of input data and produce nonsensical output.

and this line is completely false.  

by ATinNM on Sun Nov 19th, 2006 at 02:22:54 PM EST
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Which part, the "unlike humans"?

Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. -- Euripides
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Nov 19th, 2006 at 03:20:33 PM EST
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Humans also unquestioningly process nonsensical input to produce nonsensical output.
by ATinNM on Sun Nov 19th, 2006 at 03:42:24 PM EST
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Computers require syntactically correct nonsensical input to produce ninsensical output. Humans not even.

Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. -- Euripides
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Nov 19th, 2006 at 03:44:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Homo sapiens is a branch of the ape family, a branch so confident of its superiority that it names itself "Man the wise," flatly denying the evidence of most of its own daily experience.

Cohen and Stewart, The Collapse of Chaos


by ATinNM on Sun Nov 19th, 2006 at 04:10:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It's like the equivalent law for economic theories, but mechanised.
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sat Nov 18th, 2006 at 08:08:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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