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Comment by Shenglong | Hacker News Reader

it is impossible to design an idiot-proof device, because nature continues to develop better idiots

I think this is the most insightful thing I've heard in weeks. I am having a terribly difficult time adjusting to this truth. Before I hand in projects, I now sit down for an hour to think about how stupidity can ruin what I've done. If I think of anything at all, I write it down and restart the hour.

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I've heard the aphorism before, but the reason I like this interpretation is that it mentions that "even technical people" make mistakes. I usually take this quote to imply that the people using your products are getting dumber, but here the implication is that as people are getting smarter they'll test your products in ways that you weren't smart enough to think of first. The products need to be safe from the smartest users, not just the dumbest users.

I prefer something half-full: As the knowledge island expands, so does the shore of ignorance.

I don't expect astrophysicist PhDs to understand finance, politics, sewing, etc.

Original quote here: http://www.quotes.net/quote/19982

Not sure when that quote was made, as I can't find the date on Google, but Douglas Adams had a similar one that may predate it: http://www.quotes.net/quote/34668

My own version of this, developed back in the 1980s, is: "Nothing can be made fool-proof, because fools can screw things up in ways you will never be able to imagine."

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