Laura redefines insanity ... and sheds some light on our modern world

My buddy Laura (or my close personal friend Laura, as I refer to her when I'm trying to bask in reflected glory) writes a fascinating blog about birds called "Laura's Birding Blog" and edits an equally fascinating but whimsical blog called "Twin Beaks" (actually, i think she writes that one, too, but I have learned NEVER to antagonize our local chickadees) when she's not writing books -- or instant messages to me.

This week I happened to share that when you tell IT urchins (the Information Technology students who work at the University where I do) that you have renamed "My Computer" to "Pete," it bewilders them.

Which prompted this thoughtful reply from Laura:

IT urchins are always bewildered. They expect the world to work exactly opposite of the definition of insanity--there is supposed to be a way of analyzing a problem and finding a solution. But computers don't work that way. My computer at work, when it turns on, either has a working cursor or doesn't--you can't predict which times it won't, and all you can do is turn it off and reboot it. And part of the time that works, and part of the time it doesn't. So to make it work one must do exactly the same thing over and over, hoping for a different result.

No wonder IT people are fragile and bewildered.