roots of the word "algorithm" go back to the ninth century in modern-day Iran

News to us? The roots of the word "algorithm" go back to the ninth century in modern-day Iran. Via Open Culture:

In making or influencing choices humans would once have handled themselves, algorithms do present a risk of “de-skilling” as we come to rely on their services. We all occasionally feel gratitude for the blessings those services send our way, just as we all occasionally blame them for our dissatisfactions — making the algorithm, in other words, into a thoroughly modern deity.