Computers are like dogs. They smell fear.

The quip likens interacting with computers to encountering a dog: both seem to respond to the user’s emotional state, especially anxiety. “Smell fear” suggests that nervousness—hesitation, second-guessing, or lack of confidence—often leads to mistakes (wrong commands, misclicks, misconfigurations) that then appear to confirm the machine’s hostility or unpredictability. The line also captures a common psychological dynamic in technology use: calm, methodical experimentation tends to produce better outcomes than tense, rushed attempts. As a piece of humor, it anthropomorphizes computers to make frustration feel shared and legible, turning technical failure into a human story about composure and control.