:droid: [from `android', SF terminology for a humanoid robot of
essentially biological (as opposed to mechanical/electronic)
construction] n. A person (esp. a low-level bureaucrat or
service-business employee) exhibiting most of the following
characteristics: (a) naive trust in the wisdom of the parent
organization or `the system'; (b) a blind-faith propensity to
believe obvious nonsense emitted by authority figures (or
computers!); (c) a rule-governed mentality, one unwilling or unable
to look beyond the `letter of the law' in exceptional
situations; (d) a paralyzing fear of official reprimand or worse
if Procedures are not followed No Matter What; and (e) no interest
in doing anything above or beyond the call of a very
narrowly-interpreted duty, or in particular in fixing that which is
broken; an "It's not my job, man" attitude.
Typical droid positions include supermarket checkout assistant and
bank clerk; the syndrome is also endemic in low-level government
employees. The implication is that the rules and official
procedures constitute software that the droid is executing;
problems arise when the software has not been properly debugged.
The term `droid mentality' is also used to describe the mindset
behind this behavior. Compare {suit}, {marketroid}; see
{-oid}.
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
essentially biological (as opposed to mechanical/electronic)
construction] n. A person (esp. a low-level bureaucrat or
service-business employee) exhibiting most of the following
characteristics: (a) naive trust in the wisdom of the parent
organization or `the system'; (b) a blind-faith propensity to
believe obvious nonsense emitted by authority figures (or
computers!); (c) a rule-governed mentality, one unwilling or unable
to look beyond the `letter of the law' in exceptional
situations; (d) a paralyzing fear of official reprimand or worse
if Procedures are not followed No Matter What; and (e) no interest
in doing anything above or beyond the call of a very
narrowly-interpreted duty, or in particular in fixing that which is
broken; an "It's not my job, man" attitude.
Typical droid positions include supermarket checkout assistant and
bank clerk; the syndrome is also endemic in low-level government
employees. The implication is that the rules and official
procedures constitute software that the droid is executing;
problems arise when the software has not been properly debugged.
The term `droid mentality' is also used to describe the mindset
behind this behavior. Compare {suit}, {marketroid}; see
{-oid}.
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
Related:
- droid n.
[from `android', SF terminology for a humanoid
robot of essentially biological (as opposed to
mechanical/electronic) construction] A person (esp.
a low-level bureaucrat or service-business employee)... - wall follower: n. A person or algorithm that compensates for lack
of sophistication or native stupidity by efficiently following some
simple procedure shown to have been effective in the past.
Used of an algorithm, this is not necessarily pejorative... - wall follower n.
A person or algorithm that compensates for
lack of sophistication or native stupidity by efficiently following
some simple procedure shown to have been effective in the past.
Used of an algorithm, this is not necessarily pejorative... - field servoid: [play on `android'] /fee'ld ser'voyd/ n.
Representative of a field service organization (see... - oid suff.
[from Greek suffix -oid = `in the image
of'] 1.
Used as in mainstream slang English to indicate a poor... - salescritter: /sayls'kri`tr/ n. Pejorative hackerism for a computer
salesperson.
Hackers tell the following joke: Q. What's the... - oid: [from `android'] suff. 1. Used as in mainstream English to
indicate a poor imitation,
a counterfeit, or some otherwise slightly bogus... - salescritter /sayls'kri`tr/ n.
Pejorative hackerism for a
computer salesperson.
Hackers tell the following joke: Q. What's the difference... - sitename: /si:t'naym/ [UNIX/Internet] n. The unique electronic
name of a computer system,
used to identify it in UUCP mail, USENET, or other...
From the same category:
- Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.
John Kenneth... - The great merit of society is to make one appreciate solitude.
Charles Chincholles, "Reflections on the Art of... - Don't Panic! It's all right.
Everything is going to be just fine... - MINOR, adj. Less objectionable.
-- Ambrose Bierce,
"The Devil's... - The biggest thing college prepares young people for is the knowledge of
what it's like to be broke.
- Jim...
