Re:What things compute?
by aidenn0 on Tuesday September 01, 2015 @01:17PM
(#10154057)
The term "Computer" dates to the 17th century and was used to describe humans performing calculations. "Mechanical Computers" and then "Electrical Computers" were machines that could replace those people. Quite clearly humans can perform computation in the colloquial sense.
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Re:What things compute?
by resu_nimda on Tuesday September 01, 2015 @09:10PM
(#10156886)
"Colloquial" and "historical" are not the same thing. "Colloquial" refers to the meaning implied by a layperson when they use the word in casual conversation today. Maybe you feel that the colloquial usage is less accurate than the historical usage you describe, but most people are talking about machines when they say "compute" or "computer." Math exercises, to my knowledge, never say "compute the value of..." They use other terms. Another example, the "computational theory of mind" would be meaningless and redundant if everyone already viewed the mind as a computer computing things.