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> "Yes, algorithm. The word you hardly knew until HBO's Silicon Valley focused an entire show about the immense power and responsibility that comes with creatin

> "Yes, algorithm. The word you hardly knew until HBO's Silicon Valley focused an entire show about the immense power and responsibility that comes with creating one." Hard to imagine, but possible. Surely in 2017 the average person would know what an algorithm is, outside of any tv show. Right?

k-mcgrady 9y ago
I'm sure most people would have a very basic understanding (e.g. they know what the word means but can't define/explain it to another person) but anything deeper than that I would doubt. I know it sounds ridiculous but as a self-taught developer I had released popular software and was still in the bracket above before actually taking more of an interest in CS.
vollmond 9y ago
Nah. <anecdata>My wife is very technically minded (and has been married to me, a software developer, for over 10 years) and I just taught her (with more effort than I expected) what an algorithm is.</anecdata>
cm2012 9y ago
No way. You know only 25% of Americans have college degrees right? And few know how things like search engines work. Maybe 25% of the population has a vague idea of that word meaning, 10% could accurately define it.
- sndean 9y ago
  > You know only 25% of Americans have college degrees right? And most college degrees [0] don't require anything beyond basic math (e.g., intro to statistics or calc) where "algorithm" might not even be said. Might be overcompensating because I go the entire day only talking to people with PhDs (where 100% could define it?), but I really think << 10% could accurately define it. [0] https://blog.suny.edu/2014/05/most-popular-college-majors-over-40-years/ https://blog.suny.edu/2014/05/most-popular-college-majors-ov...
  - learc83 9y ago
    >intro to statistics or calc Most degrees don't even get that far. You can satisfy the math requirement for most degrees with college algebra. In many cases a generic math class that's considered a step below college algebra works.
- Tenhundfeld 9y ago
  FYI, according to the Census Bureau, as of 2014, for Americans aged 25 or older: 31.96% have a bachelor degree, 41.89% have at least an associate degree, 58.57% have attended some college. That said, I'd bet your 25%/10% guesses are fairly accurate. It also depends on what answers are considered accurate. An algorithm is really just a set of steps or rules for solving a problem. It doesn't have to involve math or computers, but I'd bet "something to do with computers" would be a common response.
Infernal 9y ago
As a high school student, I heard the word "algorithm" for the first time I could recall in the movie "A Beautiful Mind". I had been playing with computers and writing small BASIC programs for years, but had never been formally introduced to the concept. I wasn't able to infer the meaning of the word from the film, and it wasn't until a couple years through my CS degree that I remembered the use of the word in the movie and the meaning of the scene in which it was used clicked for me.
wccrawford 9y ago
I feel pretty confident in saying that the average person has no clue what an algorithm is. It's just a fancy word for something they don't understand. They might have some idea about it being a process you follow to get a result, but they would just say, "I don't know" rather than trying to verbalize that idea.
- vlasev 9y ago
  I think the average person knows algorithms by their close relative - the "recipe"
  - kwhitefoot 9y ago
    Most recipes are not algorithms. From OED: ... set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations ... https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/algorithm https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/algorithm For me one of the key features of an algorithm is that it contains decisions. Most recipes are simply step by step instructions without any branching or looping.
    - compiler-guy 9y ago
      "Add <spice> to taste." "Bake for 40-45 minutes." "If dough is too sticky, add flour." Many recipes contain decisions.
    - vlasev 9y ago
      It was tongue-in-cheek haha. That's why I said "relative", because they are not algorithms.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
mythrwy 9y ago
IDK. I knew an "aspiring" programmer a few years ago who knew how to do things like write to text file and make a "for" loop. He decided he needed to study "algorithms" because he read somewhere. I walked by and he was looking at web pages on "logarithms". So not so sure everyone knows. I think for most people "algorithm" is a fancy word having to do with advanced math formula or something like that.
AznHisoka 9y ago
thats like saying the average person knew what an app was before the iPhone.
ashark 9y ago
> Surely in 2017 the average person would know what an algorithm is, outside of any tv show. Right? No. It doesn't take much effort to reach the top, say, 10% of the population for knowledge or ability in most areas. For people in the top percent or so that initial, easy set of knowledge or skills are so trivial and were learned so long ago that it's easy for them to assume everyone knows or can do those things, but in fact it's just a small fraction of the population—most people having devoted nearly zero time to any given thing, or having done so only very long ago and with little interest and since having spent no effort retaining whatever capability they did once have. Basically if it's not part of the set of things most people have to know/do to get by, day to day (so, most math past ~6th grade is excluded) and you know/can-do it at all, you're better at it than most people.

k-mcgrady 9y ago

I'm sure most people would have a very basic understanding (e.g. they know what the word means but can't define/explain it to another person) but anything deeper than that I would doubt. I know it sounds ridiculous but as a self-taught developer I had released popular software and was still in the bracket above before actually taking more of an interest in CS.

vollmond 9y ago

Nah. <anecdata>My wife is very technically minded (and has been married to me, a software developer, for over 10 years) and I just taught her (with more effort than I expected) what an algorithm is.</anecdata>

cm2012 9y ago

No way. You know only 25% of Americans have college degrees right? And few know how things like search engines work. Maybe 25% of the population has a vague idea of that word meaning, 10% could accurately define it.

sndean 9y ago
> You know only 25% of Americans have college degrees right? And most college degrees [0] don't require anything beyond basic math (e.g., intro to statistics or calc) where "algorithm" might not even be said. Might be overcompensating because I go the entire day only talking to people with PhDs (where 100% could define it?), but I really think << 10% could accurately define it. [0] https://blog.suny.edu/2014/05/most-popular-college-majors-over-40-years/ https://blog.suny.edu/2014/05/most-popular-college-majors-ov...
- learc83 9y ago
  >intro to statistics or calc Most degrees don't even get that far. You can satisfy the math requirement for most degrees with college algebra. In many cases a generic math class that's considered a step below college algebra works.
Tenhundfeld 9y ago
FYI, according to the Census Bureau, as of 2014, for Americans aged 25 or older: 31.96% have a bachelor degree, 41.89% have at least an associate degree, 58.57% have attended some college. That said, I'd bet your 25%/10% guesses are fairly accurate. It also depends on what answers are considered accurate. An algorithm is really just a set of steps or rules for solving a problem. It doesn't have to involve math or computers, but I'd bet "something to do with computers" would be a common response.

Infernal 9y ago

As a high school student, I heard the word "algorithm" for the first time I could recall in the movie "A Beautiful Mind". I had been playing with computers and writing small BASIC programs for years, but had never been formally introduced to the concept. I wasn't able to infer the meaning of the word from the film, and it wasn't until a couple years through my CS degree that I remembered the use of the word in the movie and the meaning of the scene in which it was used clicked for me.

wccrawford 9y ago

I feel pretty confident in saying that the average person has no clue what an algorithm is. It's just a fancy word for something they don't understand. They might have some idea about it being a process you follow to get a result, but they would just say, "I don't know" rather than trying to verbalize that idea.

vlasev 9y ago
I think the average person knows algorithms by their close relative - the "recipe"
- kwhitefoot 9y ago
  Most recipes are not algorithms. From OED: ... set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations ... https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/algorithm https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/algorithm For me one of the key features of an algorithm is that it contains decisions. Most recipes are simply step by step instructions without any branching or looping.
  - compiler-guy 9y ago
    "Add <spice> to taste." "Bake for 40-45 minutes." "If dough is too sticky, add flour." Many recipes contain decisions.
  - vlasev 9y ago
    It was tongue-in-cheek haha. That's why I said "relative", because they are not algorithms.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

mythrwy 9y ago

IDK. I knew an "aspiring" programmer a few years ago who knew how to do things like write to text file and make a "for" loop. He decided he needed to study "algorithms" because he read somewhere. I walked by and he was looking at web pages on "logarithms". So not so sure everyone knows. I think for most people "algorithm" is a fancy word having to do with advanced math formula or something like that.

AznHisoka 9y ago

thats like saying the average person knew what an app was before the iPhone.

ashark 9y ago

> Surely in 2017 the average person would know what an algorithm is, outside of any tv show. Right? No. It doesn't take much effort to reach the top, say, 10% of the population for knowledge or ability in most areas. For people in the top percent or so that initial, easy set of knowledge or skills are so trivial and were learned so long ago that it's easy for them to assume everyone knows or can do those things, but in fact it's just a small fraction of the population—most people having devoted nearly zero time to any given thing, or having done so only very long ago and with little interest and since having spent no effort retaining whatever capability they did once have. Basically if it's not part of the set of things most people have to know/do to get by, day to day (so, most math past ~6th grade is excluded) and you know/can-do it at all, you're better at it than most people.