The Blind Men and the Elegant Algorithm

Everyone talks about algorithms, and like the weather, no one gets it right and nobody can do anything about it. An algorithm is a recursive computational procedure for solving a problem in a finite number of steps. Highly sophisticated, complex algorithms are the heart of all search engine technology. Google's algorithm is reputedly only 100 steps. No one outside (and few inside) Google know exactly what those steps are, how they are implemented or any of the thousand and one little details that goes into their execution. The possibilities are infinite. It is a closely guarded secret and the secret of Google's success. Google is not about to reveal itself but they do provide brief glimpses; hints and guidelines but no hard and fast rules. Everyone tries to discern the whole from the sum of the few meager parts. I recently heard someone describe Google's deep, dark secret as an 'elegant algorithm'. Misunderstanding what I heard, it called to mind an ancient eastern religious fable (and latter day poem by John Godfrey Saxe:The Blind Men and the Elephant). Six blind men are presented with an elephant and asked to describe it. In their vain attempts to describe what they see, each blind man compares the elephant to something else (a wall, a spear, a snake, a tree, a fan, a rope) because each one assumes the whole elephant is like the part he experienced. Not seeing the whole, the individual parts bear little resemblance to the actual elephant. Though each blind man has it partly right, all are completely wrong! A few of the many morals of the thousand year old story: * It is easy to jump to conclusions based on limited experience and personal impressions. * Each perspective has part of, but not the whole truth. * Do not to assume you have the whole truth just because you know one part of it. It is all a matter of perspective. The next time you hear about Google's elephant, I mean, elegant algorithm, remember the blind men. Keep your eyes open though you may not know what you are seeing. If each of us sees some small part of the truth and we share our perspectives, we may come closer to seeing the truth, though we will never know the whole truth.