The point I’m making here is that a lot of the hype around “thinking machines” and artificial intelligence seems to be Team Descartes, ignoring that he got it really, really wrong when it comes to what it means “to be.” To that end, one of the amazing and disturbing things about living in the world today is the word “algorithm” has made its way into so many places. Most people know what algorithms do. An algorithm probably decided that you would be reading this post (or not) based on whether the words in it triggered some key words that suggested it might be interesting to you, and so it popped up in your social feed or search engine results or whatever. Algorithms decide what you see, watch, read; they steer you toward what to buy and where to invest, they decide how much to charge you for insurance, how to win baseball games, prosecute wars, catch welfare and tax cheats; and even whether you’re an efficient enough worker not to get fired.

But an algorithm is just a complicated mathematical model…

Lately I’ve rekindled a love of jigsaw puzzles I first developed in childhood. My wife and I bought a David Bowie puzzle shortly after our beloved dog Chewie passed away last January. We also got a puzzle as a gift from some friends a bit before that. This year, being a mature, middle-aged man, my wife bought me a He-Man puzzle for an early birthday present. Just about everything I love to do has a “puzzle” element to it; there’s a way that putting together puzzles makes your brain work that really appeals to me and that reflects in my other goals.