For a college assignment designed to teach us how computers ‘think’, our professor tasked us with writing instructions for someone who had never tied shoes.  Thinking this was a no-brainer we all went to work then shared our step-by-step guides.  I went first, totally confident I’d done a superior job. 

Professor Lloyd listened and acted out each step as I said it.  First make a loop with one lace, holding the base of the loop with you thumb and index finger.  Well, that was enough to cause confusion right there.  How big is the loop?  Then, wrap the second lace around the base of the loop, pulling the leading edge through the triangle created by the laces.  And here’s where it totally fell apart.  Other students used the ‘two loop’ method, but each was met with the same fate.  Designing instructions to guide another person (or a computer) to complete a task is not as easy as it sounds. 

Like the shoe-lace assignment, my first experience with bringing an artichoke home didn’t go well. 

 Read more at The Weekly Veggie.  Thanks for visiting!