mechanical sympathy

English

Etymology

Coined by Scottish racing driver Jackie Stewart.

Noun

mechanical sympathy (uncountable)

1. The concept that someone can use a tool or system most effectively when they have a deep understand of how it works.
   • 2023 November 13, James Somers, “A Coder Considers the Waning Days of the Craft”, in The New Yorker‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2025-01-29:

     Together, we developed a sense of what the A.I. could do. Ben, who had more experience with it than I did, seemed able to get more out of it in a stroke. As he later put it, his own neural network had begun to align with GPT-4's. I would have said that he had achieved mechanical sympathy.