Talk:Brute force attack

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I propose a page move. I will use a Special:MovePage to change attack to approach in the title.

First I'll claim that "brute fact" and "brute force and ignorance" are well-known and well-used white-collar phrases. "Brute fact" was coined by Searle, and I heard my university professor use "brute force and ignorance" while describing math approaches, on numerous occasions.

A "call to all mathematicians!" does indeed "attack" a problem—a few of the slightly manic ones are most useful in brute situations—there is no better word there. But of all the called participating of every era, the cultured mathematicians, academics, and diplomats approach, rather than attack. Brute here should point away from meaning "large hairy mammal moving quickly in agitation", and towards a better understanding of reality. A "stab in the dark" as some other title might be acceptable because there is no other way to use the metaphor, but "brute force attack" is simply unnecessary because of the possibility of using "brute force approach" for the same content in the articulation of the topic.

A "brute fact", is simply something sensible, i.e. concrete, rather that any cultural abstraction, e.g. money. It is the operative word here. It really doesn't matter what examples are used, but cryptography is an excellent one. Now, do computers attack? No. Algorithms are pre-directed, and then applied, and an algorithm begins to "approach" as soon as the algorithm starts. The algorithm uses a heuristic which is a brute fact (1, 2, 3...), but the algorithm itself is replaced by the computer as the brute fact; the algorithm running on the computer is no longer a brute fact itself, the computer is, with its channels and switching-times. Nature's forces are by definition the essence of "brute force". But in reality Nature is not really attacking, (in the teleology of some), just approaching. Is Nature a brute? Well, its brute facts are distinguished by our senses, and its brute forces are determined by our physics.

"Brute force approach" is a better title, and I claim it is used regularly in white-collar occupations.Cpiral (talk) 20:16, 6 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

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