THE EDITOR'S CORNER

It is a rare privilege to be able to interview a computer, so let's get right to it.

" Mr. Computer, what exactly do you do?"

"I compute."

"How do you do it?"

"Exactly."

"I can see we will get nowhere that way. Tell me, if I ask you how much is two and two, what do you say?"

"I say if you don't know how much is two and two, you shouldn't be fooling around with computers."

"Let me put it another way. If I give you two numbers can you add them for me?"

"Exactly."

"If I give you three numbers, can you subtract them for me?"

"Don't get smart."

"Just a little trickery there to see if you are on your toes before we get into questions about cephalometrics."

"OK. Ask me questions about cephalotremics."

"Beg pardon. That's cephalometrics."

"One moment please." "You are correct. It is cephalometrics. I will make the correction immediately."

"Very well. How many measurements are possible in reconstructing the pattern of growth and development of, say, a 12-year-old Caucasian male?"

"You tell me and I'll tell you."

" If I could tell you, who needs you?"

"Exactly."

"You keep saying 'Exactly'."

"I got that word at the factory. Everything else I picked up from people like you."

"How do you know if someone is telling you the truth?"

"I don't."

"You believe everything everyone tells you?"

"Exactly."

"Aren't you something of a fool?"

"A perfect fool."

"Do you think that perfection makes up for foolishness?"

"I don't, but you may if you like."

"Let's get on with cephalometrics."

"Alright. Ask me some questions about cephalotremics."

"Beg pardon. That's cephalometrics."

"One moment please." "You are correct, it is cephalometrics. I will make the correction immediately."

"How many measurements do you have to have in order to establish a perfect average figure for interincisal angle in a Class II division 2 malocclusion?"

"Two."

"Two? What kind of average does that give you?"

"Pretty good for those two."

"Suppose we want an average normal figure for the whole population?"

"You'll have to tell me the figures for the whole population."

"And you can then tell me the average normal figure?"

" I can tell you the average. I wouldn't say it was normal."

"Can I ask you what is normal?"

"Now who is being foolish?"

"I'll ask the questions. If you were going to try to measure how an individual grew, how would you do it?"

"Cephalotremically."

"That's cephalometrically."

"One moment please." "You are correct. It is cephalometrically. I will make the correction immediately."

"If you can't even spell cephalometrics correctly, how can I believe all of what you tell me?"

"One moment please." "The correction has now been made. Continue please with your questions on cephamoletrics."