Please read the article "A is for algorithm" from the 26 April 2014 edition of The Economist.
You will find this article linked from the discussion in the Lesson 1 Module in Canvas.
As you are reading, think about the following questions for our discussion:
Enter the discussion forum called "A is for algorithm Discussion" in the Lesson 1 module in Canvas. You'll see the above questions already there to get you started. You aren't limited to these topics, however. Feel free to start a new thread with questions or comments about the article. This discussion will take place over the entire week devoted to Lesson 1. For specific dates, see this lesson's overview page.