Autonomous Systems

Machines, software, or vehicles capable of performing complex tasks and making situated decisions over extended periods without real-time human guidance. They perceive their environment through sensors, interpret the data, plan a course of action, and act—all while dealing with uncertainty and unexpected events. The autonomy spectrum ranges from "follow pre-set rules" to "learn and adapt on the fly." The defining feature is agency: the system is not just automated, but has the capacity to choose how to achieve its given objective.

Autonomous Systems Example: A self-driving car navigating city traffic, choosing when to change lanes, and reacting to a jaywalker is an Autonomous System. So is a planetary rover like Perseverance, which can select its own path to a target, avoid hazards, and decide which rocks to laser-zap for analysis, all during a communication blackout with Earth. It's a trusted, independent agent.

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 3, 2026

Best System Ever Fallacy

A rhetorical move that misuses a celebrated quote—often Winston Churchill’s “democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried”—to argue that the current dominant system is not only the best available option, but is effectively beyond critique or meaningful improvement. The fallacy twists a pragmatic, relative defense (“least bad”) into an absolute, defensive dogma (“good enough forever”). It smugly dismisses calls for reform, innovation, or transformation by framing all alternatives as historically disproven, ignoring that the quote itself acknowledges the system’s flaws and leaves the door open for new ideas “to be tried.” It’s complacency disguised as wisdom.

Example: In a debate about implementing proportional representation to fix a dysfunctional two-party system, someone retorts, “Churchill already settled this: democracy is the worst system except for all the others. So quit complaining.” This invokes the Best System Ever Fallacy—using a famous caveat about imperfection to shut down specific improvements, as if Churchill’s line was a full stop on political evolution rather than a humble observation.

by Dumuabzu February 3, 2026