IndignantIguana

I’m not sure they are the same thing. And maybe there are layers to this. A code base can be a representation, a map, of some real-world thing. A physics engine in a game maps to real-world physics. A robotics control program maps to a set of movements that accomplish a task. But there is another layer that I think is more what the saying is about. As a software developer you have a mental map of your software. You have some understanding of how it works to accomplish its goal. And your mental map, your understanding, may be complete and correct and it may not be. This is one of the most common sources of defects in code. I think my code is working this way, but actually it’s working that way, so when it runs it does something I don’t expect.

Meanwhile we are standing up new fossil fuel plants to power AI and writing government contracts to buy more coal.

“Greenhouse gas measurements are like skidding into a car crash. The disaster gets closer and closer but you can’t stop it, you can clearly see the crash ahead, and all you can do is howl.”

• Prof Euan Nisbet, University of London

Short version, a lot of forests near oceans are dying because of rising sea levels. Intrusion of saltwater is the biggest reason for the dying trees, though “drought, pests, and storms” also contribute.