Algorithm: Difference between revisions

{{a|design|}}{{d|Algorithm|/ˈalɡərɪð(ə)m/|n|}}A recipe, process or set of rules to be followed to achieve a pre-determined outcome, especially by a computer, a replicated organism or [[school-leaver in Bucharest]].  

 

Well adumbrated by the Robert Fripp of Philosophy, Daniel Dennett:

 

 

An [[algorithm]]’s success depends on all problems within its field of operation having been finally solved, so it can operate without obstruction or intervention from a guiding intelligent hand. Described by {{author|Daniel Dennett}} as a “universal acid”, the concept of the algorithm has certainly burned through ifs fair share of synapses in the [[management consultant|management consulting]] industry. The notion that the ''something'' of [[rice pudding and income tax]] might come from the ''nothing'' of primordial sludge, without a beneficent creator, is the basis behind the current dogmas of [[artificial intelligence]], and the belief that ''no'' intelligence, let alone [[subject matter expert]]ise, is needed to manage a [[complex]] process such as running an [[investment bank]].

Also of great interest to [[evolution]]ary biologists, psychiatrists and philosophers: According to {{author|Daniel Dennett}}, the great (if unstated) insight of {{author|Charles Darwin}}’s {{br|The Origin of Species}} was that the evolutionary process was a mindless, algorithmic one, that could operate without intervention. This made him a household name ([[Daniel Dennett|Dennett]], not Darwin) when he published {{br|Darwin’s Dangerous Idea}}.  

{{sa}}