ec2-3-237-186-170.compute-1.amazonaws.com | ToothyWiki | RecentChanges | Login | Webcomic Imitating the visible surface attributes of a complex process, without understanding it, in the hope of bringing about the same results the complex process does.
Term originates, IIRC, from when US outposts were withdrawn from some small inhabited islands or other. The natives proceeded to paint themselves green and erect surprisingly accurate mock-up wooden airfields and bases in the hope that the strange men in the big green birds would come back and bring more food.