Algorithms Quote by Eliezer Yudkowsky
“My experience is that journalists report on the nearest-cliche algorithm, which is extremely uninformative because there aren't many cliches, the truth is often quite distant from any cliche, and the only thing you can infer about the actual event was that this was the closest cliche. It is simply not possible to appreciate the sheer awfulness of mainstream media reporting until someone has actually reported on you. It is so much worse than you think.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: Rationalist Community Blog, 2012
Journalists rely on clichés, which obscure truth and make reporting feel distant and unhelpful.
In simple terms: Clichés hide reality.
Key Takeaway
Seek nuanced reporting.
Themes
media criticism
truth
communication
Mood
frustrated
critical
Type
analytical
critical
When to use this quote
- news consumption
- media literacy
- critical reading
- public discourse
Key Concepts
cognitive bias
information distortion
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we encourage deeper reporting?
- What alternatives to clichés exist?
A Different Perspective
Clichés sometimes capture essential patterns despite their limits.
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![“The classes of problems which are respectively known and not known to have good algorithms are of great theoretical interest. [...] I conjecture that there is no good algorithm for the traveling salesman problem. My reasons are the same as for any mathematical conjecture: (1) It is a legitimate…” quote by Jack Edmonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/43a/jack-edmonds-61996_algorithms_the-classes-of-problems-which-are-respec_50487.jpg)
![“Object-oriented programming aficionados think that everything is an object… this [isn't] so. There are things that are objects. Things that have state and change their state are objects. And then there are things that are not objects. A binary search is not an object. It is an algorithm” quote by Alexander Stepanov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ef9/alexander-stepanov-55292_algorithms_object-oriented-programming-aficionados_89704.jpg)
![“[The Euclidean algorithm is] the granddaddy of all algorithms, because it is the oldest nontrivial algorithm that has survived to the present day.” quote by Donald Knuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/880/donald-knuth-8762_algorithms_the-euclidean-algorithm-is-the-granddadd_96085.jpg)
