Psychology Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Computer programming: Computer programming, also known as coding, is the process of designing and writing instructions that tell a computer how to perform specific tasks. Programmers use programming languages, which are formal languages with a defined syntax and semantics, to create these instructions. Computer programming is used to create software applications, from websites and mobile apps to games and operating systems. See also Software, Computers, Syntax, Semantics, Computer languages._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Marvin Minsky on Computer Programming - Dictionary of Arguments
Weizenbaum I 308 Programming/M. Minsky/Weizenbaum: Minsky compares programming with the networking of judicial bodies. >Networks, >Neural Networks, >Artificial Neural Networks. Minsky: (M. Minsky 1967)(1): The programmer himself lays down... legal principles that... enable..."appellations". It is quite possible that he has only an incomplete understanding of when and where these procedures call each other during the execution of the program. And for a particular "instance", he has only a very vague idea of very few of the conditions under which they will be called. ... Then programmers do not write sequences (of commands), Weizenbaum I 309 ...but individual assignments for the individuals of small companies. ... often they are not able to predict all the details of their interactions in advance. After all, that is why they need a computer. As the performance of a program grows due to an evolution of partially understood individual elements and connectors, the programmer gradually loses sight of the inner details, reduces his ability to predict the behavior of the computer, relies on his hope instead of his knowledge and observes the results as if the program were an individual whose repertoire of possible behaviors cannot be determined. .... The program is becoming more and more powerful, but no programmer will ever understand it. It is wrong to say, "The computer only does what its programmer tells it to do": there is no programmer. Weizenbaum: how could a program like the one described here by Minsky, which composes "great" music, help us to understand music if the program itself lies outside our understanding? >Software, >Understanding, >Computers, >Artificial Intelligence. 1. M. Minsky, Why Programming is a Goo Medium for Expressing Poorly Understood ansd Sloppily Formulated Ideas, in: M. Krampen and P. Seitz (eds.), Design and Planning II, NY, 1967, S. 120f._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Minsky I Marvin Minsky The Society of Mind New York 1985 Minsky II Marvin Minsky Semantic Information Processing Cambridge, MA 2003 Weizenbaum I Joseph Weizenbaum Computer Power and Human Reason. From Judgment to Calculation, W. H. Freeman & Comp. 1976 German Edition: Die Macht der Computer und die Ohnmacht der Vernunft Frankfurt/M. 1978 |
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> Counter arguments against Minsky
> Counter arguments in relation to Computer Programming
