ghost in the machine

Noun

ghost in the machine (plural ghosts in the machine or ghosts in machines)

1. A metaphor for, and criticism of, the Cartesian dualist conception of a human being as a physical body ("the machine") controlled by an immaterial mind ("the ghost").
   • Now the dogma of the Ghost in the Machine does just this. It maintains that there exist both bodies and minds; that there occur physical processes and mental processes; that there are mechanical causes of corporeal movements and mental causes of corporeal movements.1949, Gilbert Ryle, The Concept of Mind, Hutchinson, page 22
   • The doctrines of the Blank Slate, the Noble Savage, and the Ghost in the Machine—or, as philosophers call them, empiricism, romanticism, and dualism—are logically independent, but in practice they are often found together.2002, Steven Pinker, chapter 1, in The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature, Penguin, →ISBN, page 10
2. (popularly) A apparent intelligence within a machine, computer system, or other technology, as invoked to explain seemingly purposeful actions, mysterious glitches, or unexpected behaviour.
   • Hence it was that the computer introduced itself to Timmy and asked him if he was a boy or girl. Then, when Timmy lisped that he was a boy, the ghost in the machine snapped back "No you're not. You're a girl!" Timmy, far from warming to this badinage and telling it that it had gone microsoft in the...1987 October 9, The Canberra Times, page 2, column 4
   • What is left is electrons bouncing in a box: relationships between frequencies, a dance of shadows without substance, a phantasmagorical presence, the ghosts in the machine.1992 April 1, Filmnews, Sydney, page 7, column 2
3. (horror) A spirit or alien entity that temporarily inhabits a vehicle, piece of machinery, or computer system.
   • Dodger told of his capture and the room of mirrors, his voice becoming hushed as he described the persona construct that echoed his own. Listening to the story of the Elf's flight and escape, Sam would probably have dismissed the tale if it had come from anyone else. It sounded like another Ghost...1990, Robert N. Charrette, Shadowrun: Never Deal with a Dragon, New York: Penguin Books, page 375
   • Finally, we bring you a classic sf novella. Hard sf writer Jerry Oltion has written a ghost in the machine story — only this ghost is the machine, the ultimate American machine: an Apollo space capsule.1996 October, The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction, page 242