explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1163: Debugger

2013-01-24T16:49:15Z

Paul42:

Isn't this also a reference to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halting_problem halting problem]? [[User:DonGoat|DonGoat]] ([[User talk:DonGoat|talk]]) 08:33, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

:It may be, but it isn't an INSTANCE of halting problem. You can understand how something work without being able to predict what exactly it will do. The problem may be also related to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_incompleteness_theorems Gödel's incompleteness theorems], which basically states that any nontrivial theory cannot be proven consistent and complete in itself. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:15, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

It's also reminiscent of a joke: ''"I was saying to myself that a brain is truly a wondrous creation with its complexity and power. And then I realized '''who''' is saying that to me."'' -- [[User:Edheldil|Edheldil]] ([[User talk:Edheldil|talk]]) 10:59, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

Not sure if it's relevant, but it reminds me of a quote: 'If our brains were simple enough for us to understand them, we'd be so simple that we couldn't' by Ian Stewart. (Yeah, I do know it from Civilization 4.) [[User:Lmpk|Lmpk]] ([[User talk:Lmpk|talk]]) 20:22, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

If the "Report a bug" page stopped working, and it was a site with some traffic, it's administrators ''could'' find out by noticing there were no more bug reports by users. The lack of bugs reported would point to a bug. Or a great deal of arrogance. -- [[User:Martin42|Martin42]] ([[User talk:Martin42|talk]]) 05:04, 22 January 2013 (UTC)

:You made a series of assumptions here in your attempt to overthrow the bug analogy - 1. The "Report a bug" page used to work at some point in time; 2. The site had traffic, meaning that the site had previously been online; 3. The users of the site had been consistently using the "Report a bug" page to report bugs (because, you know, I always just leave the site without caring enough to submit a bug report); 4. Someone actually reads the bug reports and does something about them. Judging by how specific your example is, I don't believe you can successfully use that one instance to claim that the analogy does not accurately describe the situation in general. [[User:NiccoloM|NiccoloM]] ([[User talk:NiccoloM|NiccoloM]]) 00:34, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

Also note the title "debugger." Most computer programmers don't understand how a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debugger debugger] works, but they rely on it to understand how their code works. -- [[User:Paul42|Paul42]] ([[User talk:Paul42|talk]]) 16:49, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1163: Debugger

2013-01-24T16:47:30Z

Paul42:

Isn't this also a reference to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halting_problem halting problem]? [[User:DonGoat|DonGoat]] ([[User talk:DonGoat|talk]]) 08:33, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

:It may be, but it isn't an INSTANCE of halting problem. You can understand how something work without being able to predict what exactly it will do. The problem may be also related to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_incompleteness_theorems Gödel's incompleteness theorems], which basically states that any nontrivial theory cannot be proven consistent and complete in itself. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:15, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

It's also reminiscent of a joke: ''"I was saying to myself that a brain is truly a wondrous creation with its complexity and power. And then I realized '''who''' is saying that to me."'' -- [[User:Edheldil|Edheldil]] ([[User talk:Edheldil|talk]]) 10:59, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

Not sure if it's relevant, but it reminds me of a quote: 'If our brains were simple enough for us to understand them, we'd be so simple that we couldn't' by Ian Stewart. (Yeah, I do know it from Civilization 4.) [[User:Lmpk|Lmpk]] ([[User talk:Lmpk|talk]]) 20:22, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

If the "Report a bug" page stopped working, and it was a site with some traffic, it's administrators ''could'' find out by noticing there were no more bug reports by users. The lack of bugs reported would point to a bug. Or a great deal of arrogance. -- [[User:Martin42|Martin42]] ([[User talk:Martin42|talk]]) 05:04, 22 January 2013 (UTC)

:You made a series of assumptions here in your attempt to overthrow the bug analogy - 1. The "Report a bug" page used to work at some point in time; 2. The site had traffic, meaning that the site had previously been online; 3. The users of the site had been consistently using the "Report a bug" page to report bugs (because, you know, I always just leave the site without caring enough to submit a bug report); 4. Someone actually reads the bug reports and does something about them. Judging by how specific your example is, I don't believe you can successfully use that one instance to claim that the analogy does not accurately describe the situation in general. [[User:NiccoloM|NiccoloM]] ([[User talk:NiccoloM|NiccoloM]]) 00:34, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

Also note the title "debugger." Most computer programmers don't understand how a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debugger debugger] works, but they rely on it to understand how their code works. -- [[Paul42|Paul42]] ([[User Paul42|talk]]) 24 January 2013 (UTC)