alt Hacker NewsThey're a very specific kind of error, just like off-by-one errors, or I/O errors, or network errors. The name for this kind of error is a hallucination.
We need a word for this specific kind of error, and we have one, so we use it. Being less specific about a type of error isn't helping anyone. Whether it "anthropomorphizes", I couldn't care less. Heck, bugs come from actual insects. It's a word we've collectively started to use and it works.
No it’s not. It’s made up bullshit that arises for reasons that literally no one can formalize or reliably prevent. This is the exact opposite of specific.