Andy WingoMar 9

gerald sussman once said that programming is no longer constructive, building truths from truths, instead investigative, identifying probable behavior from unreliable libraries. anyway, llms,,,

https://wingolog.org/archives/2009/03/24/international-lisp-conference-day-two

Show thread✧✦Catherine✦✧Mar 9
@wingo amusingly, this isn't even true about resistors; did you know that resistors that appear completely identical from the outside can have completely different noise spectra?
Show threadAndy Wingo
@whitequark i did not know that :) i also don't know what it means. if the abstraction is not watertight, it hasn't leaked enough to reach me ;)
Mar 9 at 8:35amWeb
Show thread✧✦Catherine✦✧Mar 9

@wingo like, imagine connecting headphones across a resistor

thick film resistors will be like SHHHHHHHH while thin film resistors will be like shhhhhhh... despite looking identical and having the same resistance and tolerance and environmental conditions

(this matters a lot in sensitive analog circuits. not at all for digital stuff)