Correction

A young American teacher once was invited into the cockpit of a 747 bound for Hawaii. There he saw a little black box. “This little black box,” the pilot explained, “is a computer which we call Fred.

Every time the 747 goes off course, Fred, who serves as the navigator, tells us how many degrees the plane is off course. Fred then communicates this information to another computer called George who steers.

Every time Fred communi- cates a necessary correction in course, George adjusts the plane’s steering in the right direction.” The pilot pointed out that the 747 is “off-course” about 90 per cent of the time, during the 5 1/2 hour flight to Hawaii. And every few seconds something like this conversation occurs: Courage 83 Fred says, “Hey, George, we’re 10 degrees starboard off course. Correct.”

George responds, “Thank you, Fred. Will do.” George corrects. Then Fred says, “We’re five degrees port off course.

Correct.” George responds, “Thank you, Fred. Will do!” Imagine how their conversation would go if Fred and George were human beings.

It would not take long for George to say something like, “Darn it, Fred, why don’t you shut your big mouth and quit telling me what to do. Yap, yap, yap. Always correcting me. Always telling me what to do.”