Submitted by culprit in thoughts (edited )

you might think speculative execution refers to the policy of using drones to kill potential threats

or

it's an investment banking term related to loosing your financial life due to risky investments

but

it really is a performance tactic used in computer processors that created quite possibly the biggest security bug ever

the phrase just refers to doing something (execution) because it may (but probably not - speculative) be useful at some point in the future

it certainly seems to be of the zeitgeist, so much in this profit-seeking, competitive global marketplace that we inhabit can be attributed to this impulse to do things (anything) even if they don't turn out being useful

in Umberto Eco's 'Ur-Fascism', he refers to a very similar concept:

The cult of action for action’s sake. “Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, any previous reflection. Thinking is a form of emasculation.”

this basically means considering what to do before just going ahead and doing it is not efficient or hinders performance, which is pretty much exactly why Speculative Execution is included in the vast majority of computer processors today

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