Computers have been around for a fairly long time, and during that time, they have been misconceived for being "smart" or "clever" or whatever term you prefer to call them. Emphasis on "misconceived" though, computers aren't really the smartest of folks, and maybe one could go as far as to say they're pretty stupid.
Okay, so computers aren't smart, no big surprise there, but why exactly have they been mistaken for having incomprehensible amounts of knowledge for so long? Well, the answer is simple, it's all in the "how" of computers. You see, computers may not actually be stupid, they're just obedient, very good at taking instructions, and following orders precisely, and they're also quick, very quick! It's just who they are.
While obedience sounds like something you'd appreciate from something you own, it has a downside. Computers lack something you and I don't even think about often, something that comes standard, as a default to our system: common sense. If I'm a 7-year old kid and you adopt me to be part of your family (thus you, being my owner) and you tell me to jump off a balcony of a tall building, the most likely outcome of that instruction would be laughter because you'd really have to be joking. But a computer? uhh, well, a computer probably WOULD jump off if it has legs. The point here is that I (the 7-year old kid) would be taking into account the building's height from which attempting to land my feet on the ground without taking the stairs or elevator (jumping) would very much break most bones in my human body, shatter my human organs and render me dead!
Another downside here is the following of precise instruction. Sure, this may sound okay but if you're a programmer then you know how much of a problem this can be.
So yeah, that's it, computers aren't really smart... they're just obedient and really good at following your instruction. But you already knew that, didn't you?
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