"Machines take me by surprise with great frequency"

The core idea here is that machines, or technology in general, often do things that we don't expect. They have a knack for catching us off guard with what they can do—or sometimes, what they fail to do.

Okay, let’s dig a bit into why someone might say this. Imagine you’ve just got the latest smartphone. It’s supposed to be smarter, faster, better. You’re excited. But then, out of nowhere, it starts doing things you didn’t anticipate. Maybe it autocorrects your texts in the most hilarious ways, or it suddenly pulls up photos of your last vacation when you didn’t ask for them. That’s the kind of surprise we’re talking about.

Now, let’s get historical for a moment. Think about Alan Turing, the father of modern computing. When he was working on the first computers in the mid-20th century, nobody knew exactly how far this technology would go. People thought computers would only be able to do simple calculations. Fast forward to today, and we have machines that can learn and adapt—artificial intelligence that can write poetry, drive cars, and even beat humans at complex games like chess and Go. Turing would probably be amazed, and maybe a bit surprised, at how far his foundational work has come.

Let’s look at a real-life example. Remember when IBM’s Watson went on Jeopardy! and won against the best human contestants? That was a big deal. People didn’t expect a machine to understand the nuances of human language, puns, and cultural references well enough to compete at that level. It was a moment that made a lot of people sit up and say, “Wow, I didn’t see that coming.”

So, how can you take this wisdom and apply it in your own life? First off, be open to surprises. Technology is evolving rapidly, and it’s going to keep throwing curveballs. Don’t get too comfortable thinking you know all there is to know about your gadgets and tools. Stay curious. When your GPS takes you on an unexpected route, or your smart assistant books an appointment for you without being asked, take a moment to marvel at the unpredictability. Let it remind you that there’s always something new to learn, even from machines.

Picture this: You’re working late one night, and your laptop crashes. You haven’t saved your work. Panic sets in. You’re cursing the machine, thinking it’s out to get you. But then, you remember that it’s got an auto-recovery feature you didn’t know about. You reboot, and there’s your document, almost entirely intact. You breathe a sigh of relief and maybe laugh a bit at your earlier frustration. That’s the kind of surprising moment Turing was talking about—when technology does something you didn’t expect, but it turns out alright in the end.

In essence, machines are enigmatic. They frequently act in ways that surprise us because they operate on principles we might not fully grasp. Embrace that unpredictability. Use it to fuel your curiosity and keep you on your toes. Technology is a wild ride—hang on and enjoy the surprises along the way.