GECOS /jee'kohs/ n.
See GCOS.
Node:gedanken, Next:geef, Previous:GECOS, Up:= G
=
gedanken /g*-dahn'kn/ adj.
Ungrounded; impractical; not well-thought-out; untried;
untested.
`Gedanken' is a German word for `thought'. A thought
experiment is one you carry out in your head. In physics, the
term `gedanken experiment' is used to refer to an experiment that
is impractical to carry out, but useful to consider because it
can be reasoned about theoretically. (A classic gedanken
experiment of relativity theory involves thinking about a man in
an elevator accelerating through space.) Gedanken experiments are
very useful in physics, but must be used with care. It's too easy
to idealize away some important aspect of the real world in
constructing the `apparatus'.
Among hackers, accordingly, the word has a pejorative
connotation. It is typically used of a project, especially one in
artificial intelligence research, that is written up in grand
detail (typically as a Ph.D. thesis) without ever being
implemented to any great extent. Such a project is usually
perpetrated by people who aren't very good hackers or find
programming distasteful or are just in a hurry. A `gedanken
thesis' is usually marked by an obvious lack of intuition about
what is programmable and what is not, and about what does and
does not constitute a clear specification of an algorithm. See
also AI-complete, DWIM.
Node:geef, Next:geek code, Previous:gedanken, Up:=
G =
geef v.
[ostensibly from `gefingerpoken'] vt. Syn. mung. See also blinkenlights.