Which is to say, when I tell a computer “A horse walks into a bar. The bartender looks at him and says, ‘hey, why the long face?’”, the computer should laugh, or give its honest opinion. If it doesn’t know how to respond, it is just pretending with programming.

I always forget whether Japan or Mexico has a higher number of robots per capita. I want to say Japan.

“25% of the population in China with highest IQ is greater than the total population in North America”

Uh, yeah, duh. 25% of China is 330,462,972 people, according to the latest Google-delivered estimates. Also according to Google, the U.S., Canada, and Mexico contain roughly 450,000,000 people – which includes the ~4% of people affected by mental handicaps – some 18,000,000. So the correct statistic to use here would be the smartest 330,462,972 North Americans vs. the smartest 330,462,972 Chinese.

So the next time you read a statistic like that, really think about what it means. Usually, it means a grand total of jack shit.

You might also appreciate this BW article:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_27/b4041401.htm