Agatha Christie? Bill Vaughan? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Previously you examined a humorous statement from columnist Bill Vaughan about the electronic beasts that control so much of our lives: To err is human, to really foul things up requires a computer. I think that the famous mystery writer Agatha Christie said something very similar. Would …
Search results for: to error is human
I Prefer an Injurious Truth To a Useful Error. Truth Heals Any Pain It May Inflict On Us
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? Thomas Mann? André Gide? Arthur Koestler? Garrett Hardin? Horace Mann? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Sometimes a truthful statement can undermine a cherished belief and provide comfort to an adversary. Thus, it is tempting to embrace an untruthful statement that provides temporary solace. Yet, accepting uncomfortable truths leads to personal growth, whereas …
To Err is Human; To Really Foul Things Up Requires a Computer
Paul Ehrlich? Alexander Pope? Senator Soaper? Bill Vaughan? Agatha Christie? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I am reading your blog and that shows I am not a Luddite, but computers can be very exasperating. One of my favorite quotations on this topic is the following: To err is human, but to really foul things up you …
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Quote Origin: AI Researchers Are Trying To Reach the Moon by Climbing the Tallest Trees
Hubert Dreyfus? Stuart Dreyfus? Gary Marcus? Dave Akin? Ernest Davis? Aesop? Question for Quote Investigator: Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have been remarkable, but detractors contend that current approaches are inadequate and progress will soon reach a plateau. Critics of AI research have used the following vivid analogy: You cannot reach the moon by …
Quote Origin: I Admire and Crave Competence In Any Field From Adultery to Zoology
H. L. Mencken? Alistair Cooke? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent journalist once celebrated the display of competence in any discipline from A to Z by saying something like the following: I admire and crave competence, just simple competence, in any field from adultery to zoology. The statement has been attributed to the famous …
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Quote Origin: Those Who Cannot Remember the Past Are Condemned To Repeat It
George Santayana? Edmund Burke? Winston Churchill? Question for Quote Investigator: The study of history teaches vital lessons; however, those lessons are often unheeded. Here are five versions of a popular adage: (1) Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. (2) Those who do not learn from the experience of history are …
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Slogan Origin: Take Nothing But Pictures. Leave Nothing But Footprints
Museum Sign? Park Sign? Boy Scout Adage? Sierra Club Motto? Spelunkers Adage? Conrad L. Wirth? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Humans are now visiting remote and pristine locations around the globe. People are drawn to beautiful, historic, memorable, scenic, and enigmatic locales. A crucial admonition is impressed on visitors to these significant places. Here are …
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It May Be That Today’s Large Neural Networks Are Slightly Conscious
Ilya Sutskever? Blaise Agüera y Arcas? Yann LeCun? Blake Lemoine? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Apparently, a top researcher in artificial intelligence (AI) controversially suggested in early 2022 that contemporary digital neural networks employed in AI systems might be “slightly conscious”. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: Ilya …
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The Man Who Is Certain He Is Right Is Almost Sure To Be Wrong
Michael Faraday? Henry Bence Jones? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A dogmatic or inflexible certitude leads to errors. When one is certain of being right one is almost sure to be wrong. The famous English physicist and chemist Michael Faraday said something like that. Would you please help me to find his exact phrasing and …
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Art Is Anything You Can Get Away With
Marshall McLuhan? Quentin Fiore? Frank Richardson? Terence Trent D’Arby? Theodor W. Adorno? Dear Quote Investigator: In 2019 the Italian conceptual artist and provocateur Maurizio Cattelan used duct tape to attach a banana to the wall of an art gallery. He dubbed the resultant artwork “Comedian”. After Cattelan sold the quasi-sculpture for a lucrative price he …