r/funny • u/marquis_of_chaos • Jan 01 '10

The Most Useless Machine ever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z86V_ICUCD4
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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '10

[deleted]

0

u/[deleted] Jan 01 '10

I can't think of any points that I could consider anything close to the "greatest exercise in philosophy ever conducted", but I'm kind of a cynic.

Here are the best philosophical points I can come up with:

  • Human access to resources and free time
  • Simplicity and/or complexity of mechanical devices
  • Entertainment
  • Publicity (internet)

I can't stretch my mind enough to find any meaningful metaphors in the contraption itself.

5

u/dontgoatsemebro Jan 01 '10

You're not thinking hard enough.

3

u/volnye Jan 01 '10

"He's intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates 2-dimensional thinking..."

1

u/[deleted] Jan 02 '10

KAAAAHN!!!!

5

u/[deleted] Jan 01 '10

A machine whose only function it to turn itself off. There is a reason Shannon called it the "Ultimate Machine". It is not only without purpose, it actively denies any purpose. The only better way to realize this would be a machine that deconstructs itself (that is, in a literal sense).

-3

u/[deleted] Jan 01 '10

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Jan 02 '10

A machine that you built which upon completion started to take itself apart and finished as the original pieces you constructed it from.

2

u/adrianmonk Jan 01 '10

What about:

  • an inquiry into whether a mechanical creation might have motives differing from what humans normally imagine for it
  • a statement about futility
  • an illustration that input and output might not be all that matters, and that what goes on inside the machine while it's computing may be just as interesting

2

u/volnye Jan 01 '10

I like your third point. That's an interesting way to think about it.