3 ms·

maybe we do need a technocracy.

krapp 5y ago
Where do you think people like Nadine Dorries get these ideas from? I've been reading techies denounce "algorithms" in social media platforms and search engines for months now.
- netsharc 5y ago
  I fear the lady doesn't even know what the actual definition of the word "algorithm" really is, and in her mind it's probably the label for some class of bad software... Politicians should know how to use precise words, if she were competent she'd say "Social media algorithms", and she would realise showing up to a meeting with an IT company and saying "When are you going to get rid of algorithms?" is idiotic. But then again, it might be that the article is spinning it to make her look bad.
  - krapp 5y ago
    I think it's a bit pedantic, honestly. She's a politician, not an engineer, her job is to communicate policy and advocate a position, not to precisely employ technical jargon. It's at best a minor, embarrassing gaffe.
    - netsharc 5y ago
      Well if you see her track record you'd see it's par for the course for her: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMFWT8HzsPg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMFWT8HzsPg And is "algorithm" a technical jargon nowadays? Geez, I wonder what grade I learnt the definition of this word in school...
      - krapp 5y ago
        >And is "algorithm" a technical jargon nowadays? I mean, we're in a Hacker News thread ridiculing her for not using it in a technically precise enough manner around IT professionals, so yes?
        netsharc 5y ago
        Somewhere along the lines of a maths education in primary school I hope people would learn the word "algorithm" and remember it for the rest of their lives... how are people in charge of government policy when they can't recall stuff they learnt in primary school? I wrote hope, maybe I'm hoping for too much here...
        tonyedgecombe 5y ago
        In a survey by the Royal Statistical Society half of MP's questioned couldn't answer what the probability of getting two heads is if you flip a coin twice.

Where do you think people like Nadine Dorries get these ideas from? I've been reading techies denounce "algorithms" in social media platforms and search engines for months now.

netsharc 5y ago
I fear the lady doesn't even know what the actual definition of the word "algorithm" really is, and in her mind it's probably the label for some class of bad software... Politicians should know how to use precise words, if she were competent she'd say "Social media algorithms", and she would realise showing up to a meeting with an IT company and saying "When are you going to get rid of algorithms?" is idiotic. But then again, it might be that the article is spinning it to make her look bad.
- krapp 5y ago
  I think it's a bit pedantic, honestly. She's a politician, not an engineer, her job is to communicate policy and advocate a position, not to precisely employ technical jargon. It's at best a minor, embarrassing gaffe.
  - netsharc 5y ago
    Well if you see her track record you'd see it's par for the course for her: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMFWT8HzsPg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMFWT8HzsPg And is "algorithm" a technical jargon nowadays? Geez, I wonder what grade I learnt the definition of this word in school...
    - krapp 5y ago
      >And is "algorithm" a technical jargon nowadays? I mean, we're in a Hacker News thread ridiculing her for not using it in a technically precise enough manner around IT professionals, so yes?
      - netsharc 5y ago
        Somewhere along the lines of a maths education in primary school I hope people would learn the word "algorithm" and remember it for the rest of their lives... how are people in charge of government policy when they can't recall stuff they learnt in primary school? I wrote hope, maybe I'm hoping for too much here...
        tonyedgecombe 5y ago
        In a survey by the Royal Statistical Society half of MP's questioned couldn't answer what the probability of getting two heads is if you flip a coin twice.