All humans make errors. Humans tend to blindly accept results from machines as though machines were incapable of error, even though those machines are programmed by other humans who are known to make errors. This blind acceptance of machine data is especially true for people new to working with a machine or instrument. Experience plays a key role.

Chemistry teachers need to be aware of this 'blind acceptance' and combat it by raising the awareness of their students to machine fallacy. A good strategy is to consistently have students make predictions for measurements or calculations and self check the potential accuracy of the device. These estimations help students avoid errors of several orders of magnitude caused by not noting units of milli or kilo as well as keeping students focuses on the physics and chemistry principles. Another successful strategy is repetition of measurement and member checking among large groups of data collectors.