Google a mind of its own

I typed into google 17.2378 and this is what it spat out at me:

Your search - 17.2378 RadDeg x! Inv sin ln π cos log e tan √ Ans EXP xy ( ) % AC 7 8 9 ÷ 4 5 6 × 1 2 3 - 0 . = + - did not match any documents.

cool

Ctrl-f, search for "hillis" here:
http://edge.org/responses/q2013

gggmork said:

Ctrl-f, search for "hillis" here:
http://edge.org/responses/q2013

and then he said:

If you can make any sense of this post, congratulations

If you're confused by something in the article then specify and elaborate. If you are confused because you couldn't find the article then we may have a problem

Google has a mind of its own.... cleverbot sure doesn't.

First result from DuckDuckGo was a link to Wolfram|Alpha

I got that number from adding up the three fill ups of gas for my car... My next move, before google decided to hijack my query, was to erase the number and then type in the number of miles I drove on said amount of gas, 755 and then divide it by the mystery number. Apparently the number 17 is really significant in math. My calc teacher would go on about it periodically. It's an extremely odd number, given that it's prime and comes after 16, which is an extremely orderly number.

This is why you should do math using google: you might inadvertently learn something, even if you don't know what you learned.

I happened to have a calculator handy, which spat out 43.7990926916 as the result.

gggmork said:

Ctrl-f, search for "hillis" here:
http://edge.org/responses/q2013

TL;DR version:

"google uses advanced search techniques to cut through the bullshit and give you the right information depending on the search terms and current events, including past searches, clicks and other activities while using the site"

Wow. I'm just shocked to my very core.

GreyGhost said:

I happened to have a calculator handy, which spat out 43.7990926916 as the result.

Also can write the answer as 43.8. Not bad for wintertime driving and driving in a bad snowstorm.

What is this thread about exactly?

The fuel efficiency of Hellbent's car in a snowstorm?

Hellbent said:

Also can write the answer as 43.8.

That's the result I got using a slide rule, which also happened to be close at hand. Next stop - pencil and paper.

Technician said:

What is this thread about exactly?

What is this thread not about?

Technician said:

What is this thread about exactly?

Alcohol, and perhaps other inebriating substances.

Csonicgo said:

TL;DR version:

"google uses advanced search techniques to cut through the bullshit and give you the right information depending on the search terms and current events, including past searches, clicks and other activities while using the site"

Wow. I'm just shocked to my very core.

If you happen to share the moral ideals of your particular subculture and aren't interested in a different perspective, your statement is true.

It's a pretty lousy attitude to have as an intelligent being, though. Ever seen a school advertise itself as lacking any oversea program and exposing students to a very limited curriculum? Knowledge doesn't come from sitting in increasingly small and isolated bubbles of people sharing opinions in everything, but from confrontation and being exposed to as many viewpoints as possible.

We now live in a world where there's hardly any physical limitation to the spread of knowledge, and instead, not only people choose to limit their horizons, they stand up and applaud when a company with more power than any government essentially enforces such restrictions on all of their customers.

There is no greater irony than seeing the Internet hivemind looking down at people living in authoritarian states.