Richard Feynman Computer Science Lecture - Hardware, Software and Heuristics

Caption notes

Feynman uses a file clerk and a set of cards to explain how simple operations can carry out complex tasks. With the steps written on cards, the clerk can fetch instructions in order, look up values, and update records. The same machinery can take on a different task with a different set of instructions, while multiple clerks must coordinate when they read and write shared records. The later Q&A turns to search strategies. In one anecdote, a program uses scores to prioritize its heuristics, then ends up repeatedly rewarding the same rule instead of advancing the original task.