Algorithms are as old as computation. They appear in mathematical systems across all cultures, both informally and formally. They are step-by-step procedures, designed to perform calculations or solve problems.
The word, as used in English, gained traction in wider culture with the advent of Turing Machines in the mid-twentieth century. These machines, and the computer science to which they gave rise, are the precursors of the contemporary information technologies which dominate social, economic, media and public life globally.
Common usage understands algorithms as veiled processes used by over-whelming social media platforms to select and focus our choices and our behaviour. If you use a machine search engine to check out holidays by the sea, you will find advertisements for seaside resorts cluttering your email account, confusing your social media browsing and intruding on future machine searches.
A basic definition of an algorithm says it is a well-defined sequence of steps, explained clearly enough that even a computer could do them.
The following notes discuss how humans use one to solve one of the most intractable human problems: how to make an apology when you don’t mean it and when it isn’t meant to have any consequences.
The classic steps in the apology algorithm are similar in all human languages. More arcane versions are being developed in computer languages, as part of Artificial Intelligence advances to equip robots with this vital piece of software.
In English, a classic apology goes as follows:
I am sorry for …
action/occurrence/event
I will …
action/redress/recompense
By way of illustration, consider an incident involving two footballers, in a heated game in a women’s tournament.
Player 1 says
I am sorry for breaking your leg.
I will not do it again.
She may go further.
I will visit you in hospital and bring grapes.
Player 2 may accept the apology. She may not consider it sincere. She may not consider it sufficient.
A variation on this classic formula is widely found in contemporary public life.
I am sorry that you were...
emotion
The notable changes from for to that and from I to you clearly demonstrate the shift of agency from the apologiser to the person receiving the apology. A further significant change is from action to emotion.
This form of the algorithm is commonly used in cases where the apologiser is under pressure not to give way.
Player 1 says
I am sorry that your leg was broken.
I am sorry for the hurt this has caused.
Player 2 may accept this apology. She may doubt Player 1’s trustworthiness.
Elaborations on this variation occur widely in public life. It is known informally as The Half-Apology and, more formally, as The Politic Apology.
http://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2020/07/04/news/michelle-o-neill-criticised-over-half-apology-in-storey-funeral-row-1995281/
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