*Chess back then:* This machine is too smart, a human mind must be controlling it *Chess now:* This human is too smart, he must be using a Chess Engine
Hey guys I got rid of the spiral cuz they bouta delete the channel and I got my own grind going on! please help a fellow iplier out and check out my music! If you decide you like it consider subscribing! thankyou!
@Bunny Yeah people tend to underestimate our ancestors' capabilities and ingenuity, the whole "ancient aliens" thing was based on that tendency (apart from a huge lack of scientific knowledge of course).
I was thinking the same thing! When the explanation of how the chess player inside both saw the moves made on the exterior board.. and then could move his own pieces at will from within the cabinet I was grinding trying to figure out how a series of magnets could be assembled to make it work, and work so reliably. Incredible all by itself!
I dont care if it was a lie, the engineering that must have gone into it to allow the Turk to shadow the person controlling it and move the pieces with precision across the board must have been incredible.
I do think it would have been possible to create a automated chess machine that almost always won even back then. Off course it would be absolutely huge and entirely analog. Although I doubt anyone would have had the time, resources and knowledge needed to create something like this.
That's what I think too. The player must have been fantastic and terrified and that isn't a good combination for winning. Imagine if someone like Napoleon had decided to shove a sword through the bottom or some such thing.
What if research into robotics had started as early as the middle of the 18th century, by the 19th century chattle slavery could have been abolished and thus no American civil war.
@@TheGauges420 being interesting has nothing to do with how long you live unless that is the interesting part. it has to do with what you do. most people have an uninteresting life with few good moments but alas none are interesting enough to be recorded in history. that "box" fooled a lot of important people for decades as being one of a kind and in the end it truly became one.
Anything capable of trolling Napoleon Bonaparte _and have him be happily amused about it_ surely has a history more compelling than 98% of us in YT. I don't feel inadequate. The odds were stacked against me from the start, lolz.
Because his voice is soothing, I decided to use Thoughty2's video to fall asleep. But the kind of characters that appeared in this video made me doubt whether I was trying to fall asleep or was already asleep
@Graham Murphy this video says something at least. The other one is the whole time hinting a reveal of the way the turk worked, to then just take us to the house of an old dude that is supposedly an eminence in illusions and that knows how it functioned. Just to have him tell us he won't reveal shit. LOL. Not even conjectures, anything. At least this one contains the version of someone related to an owner.
Using a pantograph, assuming all the joints were tight, the moves of turk would be identical to his own. I am more interested in how it tracked moves. Magnets only go so far and could not track lifted parts
@@justingrey6008 you know which piece was moved and to where it was moved, so you can infer the move. (for example you see A2 to A3, you know what to move.)
@@justingrey6008 (edit)tl;dr: as long as you know the full state of the board before, if you know from where to where a move is made, you know the full state of the board after. you'd know exactly where it lands, as you can't pick up multiple pieces at the same time. I'd imagine, you see where all the pieces are, and given that you know where they started, you can always know where all the pieces are as the game progresses even if you don't see which pieces are where, just where are all the pieces. and you can easily replicate the board, as you see a piece go out, you pick it up, and then when you see it reappear, you put it where it reappeared.
@@satibel that would imply some sort of visual system on the board. Which could be done with mirrors but mirrors work both ways. How would you track pieces so they could be blindly moves and tracked remotely? And to do it before modern (any) electronics.
What an utterly fascinating story. It's the sort of thing you'd see in a Hollywood adaptation and complain about all the liberties taken. _"Come on, Bonaparte, Franklin AND Poe? Get out of here with your fanfiction!"_ Reality can most definitely be stranger than fiction.
I immediately thought, there must have been several film adaptations of this story, historical dramas, or something. But I can’t find any. I’m confused. This really could be made into a fascinating movie. I thought the same thing when I saw a RU-vid documentary about the serial killer H.H.Holmes - Tim Burton / Johnny Depp haven’t done this yet?!?
The ability to see what pieces are on the board and to send that to a hidden board is impressive. Also moving pieces in the visible board via mechanical arm is impressive. They were fooling people through the use of very clever engineering.
“And like many depressed men, he turned to drink. He died from alcohol poisoning during the voyage” This man couldn’t even wait to get home, he must have been drinking by the literal bucket load
Correct me if I'm wrong, but at that time most people had to drink alchohol (mostly beer) on ships because it was much cleaner than the little "fresh" water they had on board.
@Forever Changed Alcohol withdrawal is the worst experience i have ever had in my life. The symptoms literally feel like you're dying, no exaggeration. Landed me in the hospital once, then I worked out the 2nd one on my own
@Forever Changed Same situation, im getting out of the habit slowly, I am still physically and mentally strong but its overtaking my ability to do my duties sober and efficiently.
I was told by a pharmacist who worked at the VA for several years (before going to the private sector) that standard treatment for alcoholics was to slowly diminish the amount of liquor they would consume. Because if the patient was cut off completely (going cold turkey) the strain on the patient's organism would be so great it would kill them.
Which was based on the original book "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick. The book is _far, far_ better the movie, you really should read it.
Very interesting story. One correction: Maria Tereza was, if I remember correctly, empress of Austria and queen of Hungary and Croatia, not Bulgaria (which was in that period a province of the Ottoman Empire)
@@WaterVolt1917 well I mean you know what snuff boxes were right? most of the forefathers were using a bit of nose candy. also come on, those rebellious town hall meetings where they all worked to set up a new never tried before government, and never really tried since, maybe it's cause I'm lame, but I'd fucking call that one hell of a party that I wish I could have partaken in. also highly suggest you google image search snuff boxes, god I hope I'm spelling snuff right. those things are gorgeous. they really had some serious craftsmen back in the day.
@@caesertullo1824 I never said he didn't snort some lines I'm just saying I'd be surprised if he were to ever have some fun with hookers. I mean he was a Christian man after all.
It may have been an illusion that the Mechanical Turk possessed any true AI, but the engineering required to build such an automaton is truly impressive.
SCP-1875 is a Euclid class object and it was was a chess robot that was built by a Russian chess champion in 1875 but parts of the machine were built by by his then missing twin daughters with the chess pieces being made from their bones and when the SCP Foundation took it back to the foundation the machine would have later take over the wireless connection by corrupting files, changing reports, deleting files, and finally sending a disturbing picture of two twin girls with black hallow eyes
"With the automaton destroyed, Mitchel's son, *Silly Ass*..." As someone with a friend called Silas, It's amazing I don't recall anyone ever calling him that in highschool. Also surprising you went and called the guy that here. Did he wrong you?
I didnt expect they were doing it for money LMAO, if some dude came up to me and was like "Wanna prank Napoleon?" Id say "Do I?!?! IS THE SKY BLUE MY SIR???"
There’s actually a short story this inspired called “The Automata,” about a similar machine, that also was an illusion. It’s an interesting story actually, with a mystery element involved.
The gift of hindsight being what it is, I figured a human was involved somehow from the start, but what a fascinating story, presented flawlessly by you as always. Keep up the great work! You have an uncanny ability to entertain AND inform!!
Actually, even though it was a hoax, the Turk must have had some pretty smart mechanics inside of it to convincingly reproduce the movements of the chess master inside, and for him to be able to unerringly follow his opponent's moves. It's always a bit of a give-away, though, when a machine loses its temper. There was another automaton that could write pre-programmed texts - and it wasn't a hoax. It was a mechanical marvel of its time.
@@swiftfox3461 Clearly, it _wasn't_ impossible. Some mechanical inventor did it 200 years ago, at a time when many other fantastic automata were made - able to write a sentence, or the silver swan (Bowes museum) that swallows a fish. But my point was, that many people feel that there was nothing wonderful about it because there was a human chess player inside - so there was nothing clever about it. It was, nonetheless, a feat of design and fine mechanics. Fine mechanics goes back further than that, of course - but that doesn't mean it wasn't an admirable feat of ingenuity. Clocks are fine mechanical contrivances, and they have existed for quite a while, and the Antikythera mechanism has taught us that some technicians had detailed mechanical knowledge, even BC. But gearwheels were cut by hand, we believe, with a chisel. Try that some time. Just make a pair of meshing gearwheels without the aid of anything other than hand tools, and see if you don't think that fine mechanics without the advantage of machine tools is not "pretty smart mechanics".
There was also a novel written by a Roman author that was... basically Hitchhiker's Guide. I think it was called "The Most True Story" or something and the first line was "This story is all fake."
I saw a movie where the "Turk" actually was a clear system of gears and levers and was controlled by a midget that was hidden inside the box at the bottom.
@@fernandojuarez4499 - sorry that was a translated - dubbed over from some other language movie from way back in the 70 - 80`s. I think it was German made, I could be wrong.
Dude, I just want to thank you for being one of the only channels that isn’t politically charged, self centered, a rip off, reactionary, or any of the other bullshit genres that makes up 99% of RU-vid. THIS is the type of content I come to RU-vid for. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Amazing video as always! Just a tiny correction, Maria Theresa was a Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. Bulgaria was still fighting for independance of the Ottoman Empire during her rule.
Chess playing pianist here. It's still known as Maelzel's Metronome and if you've ever wondered why at the beginning of some pieces have the indication MM: crotchet = 88, now you know what the MM stands for.
I love the idea of Poe being so upset at this illusion being sold as a real robot that he publishes a whole paper on it and he finally thinks it's out of his life and later his physician is like "yo edgar, look at what I just bought!"
Second comment, I am a chemistry professor; the intgrated circuit is a marvel of understanding, design and engineering, but it is never the point-it is the tool. While they were still servicable, I used to love teachign advanced classes on old, mechanical and vaccum tube intruments. The point was to show the student HOW the data was obtained, as opposed to obtaining the data in a "magic" beige or blue box with an "on" switch. "The Turk", and mechanial naval artillery rangefinders, are in the same genre; human reason had already deduced the options, how they were derived, and what the most likely outcome was. IN a way, I ma still more amazed by the mecahnical solutions, where engineers had to design (and artisans create) cogs and gears that would manipulate space-time in the way predicted. Binary circuits and programming are advancements in miniaturization and "democratization" (you can buy an ap, get a result, and not have the foggiest as to how it happened or what it means), but are no more elegant or sublime in an engineering sense compared to the mechanincal solution.
This is, by far, among the most interesting videos I've lately seen. We will really have to work out if many the information that was said to be true is true indeed. But again is undeniably, a fantastic video. Thank you, keep on!!!
Why waste 5 minutes everyday with a boring repetitive task, if I can put some extra effort in and not have to deal with it ever again? (Also automating things is fun, doing repetitive mindless tasks is not ....)
This would be one of those things to go back in time and rescue someday just before it was destroyed. Wouldn't change the past, but it would be an incredible historical artifact.
@@MarioMarioBW one would imagine that if we have the technology to time travel, we might also have the ability to scan and perfectly replicate things. So maybe the time traveller replicates it and leaves the copy
An amazing story made to be incredibly enjoyable and entertaining only for it being masterfully narrated. You could definitely be a professional narrator for historical documentaries and such.
Poe: There's a man inside the box! Man inside the box: And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for that meddling author! Scooby Doo: Reckrate!
@BrazilianFlow It's because this channel is known for changing the Titles of his videos constantly. People should comment every single change of name here, complete with timestamps, if they want.
In our language, which is also Kempelen's mother tongue, the inventor's name is correctly Kempelen Farkas. At that time, the names of the people entering the royal court were automatically changed to the German / Austrian name system, hence the "von". That man was a mechanical genius anyway, a separate video could be made of all his machines
Elon Musk "invented" the hyperloop. A concept that is almost 100 years old. He also "invented" the electric car, another concept that is 100+ years old.
@@X99GD "I have a name for it, it's called the Hyperloop." Elon Musk "We have planes, trains, automobiles and boats, ... What if there was a fifth mode? .....I call it hyperloop" Elon Musk Hyperloop is a concept developed by Space X and Tesla founder Elon Musk for ultra-fast inter-city travel. Using travel pods inside metallic tubes, he calls it as a "fifth mode" of transport in addition to cars, planes, boats, and trains....
@@israelwolstein9351 There is a difference between "inventing" something and "developing" something. I think perhaps your negativity is caused by a mistaken concept that Elon Musk is claiming to have invented anything at all. He owns a company which develops various technologies. His company developed Electric car technology, his company developed rockets that can be landed, his company is considering development of a high speed rail network for sending products and people across continents in mere minutes. Not one of these statements means he invented Rockets, Electric Cars and Hyperloops. All he has done is develop them and apply his branding to them. Branding a product or service does not require that one be the inventor of said product/service. One need only provide the product or service in a reputable manner in order to qualify as a branded product/service.
The fear of automation is baselessly founded. As a person who lost his job twice to robotic automation, I was inspired to return to school and now I am on my way towards my registered nursing degree. In most first world countries, this is an assisted process.
Key word being "Most." Not so here in the states, as far as I know. My countrymen need to realize that bringing back factories won't bring back their jobs, because why would a company pay a person to stand there and weld the same exact line on car after car when they can have a machine do it for zero pay and with greater precision than even the steadiest human welder?
@@masonsykes2240 well they wouldn't unless they are forced to , wouldn't surprise me that much that they are forced to hire and pay people as if they didn't have those machines only keeping the efficiency bonus of AI and machines , but most probably governments will go the ubi route instead if they want to keep their heads anyway.
This is what I tell a lot of people who get upset over new technology 'taking their jobs'. It may take the ONE SPECIFIC JOB, but it also generates more (think of programmers, engineers, technicians, who have to work on/with these robots to make them perform properly). Most often the jobs are generated in other fields, but I look at it more as a 'shifting' of jobs then a deletion. If you get yourself retrained (and aren't a lazy ass falling into the competency trap that's brought down whole companies) you can switch over to one of those shifted or created jobs.
Prediction before i see the answer to how the turk actually worked in this video: 1. Either it was all a trick and a chess pro was controling its moves somehow. 2. Or the chessboards all 64 tiles were pressureplates, and all chess pieces had diffrent weight, depending on their type and color. And depending on how the pieces were all placed on the chessboard it would act as diffrent combinations (similar to how a combination lock on a safe can trigger it to unlock, only this would be million times more complex to build) and depending on what combination the pieces are in that would "unlock" a very specific counter move by the turk. I am not very knowledgeable in mechanics so i dont know if would be realistic or not to build this, but as for now this will be my prediction. I really hope it's revealed in the end how it was done! :P
My prediction is, since the turk is always white, it might be 'programmed' to do an opening and predicted the next moves just like some opening traps. But of course thats impossible that time. So the only answer to his undefeated record is a human controlling it.
So, You decided to comment before watching the video to show off your amazing thought process of the outcome? OK. And if this was the late 17 early 1800s, Would your prediction be the same? Just watch like everyone else then give your feedback rather than being pedantic for likes lol
@@danimayb It's called having fun you party pooper. And i never do things for likes. And it's called projection when you judge others based on your own personality. So you must've commented that for likes.
"Thats gonna give me nightmares" LOL you have great humor. I read about the chess playing Turk when i was a boy, in Readers Digest i think, even then they said it had a lot of empty space in the cabinet where a small chess player could sit. Still i thought at the time, how many small chess grand masters are there? Your research is very thorough and informative, and very funny, like the robot thinking 'please leave me alone', i think AI will actually reach that stage, where it will no longer want, or need, humans. Now THAT is a nightmare :D