Not intuition, but a human can determine more objectively what calculations may be needed or discarded. More objectively? You ask. Yes. A computer is "subjective" in the sense that it is biased by its programming. A human doesn't "intuit", but is able to make a judgment based upon imagining the effect and the results and can notice and consider variables and present solutions beyond such programming. If a computer notices a discrepency but has no means of doing anything about it in its programming, it will not be able to make a decision about it or imagine causes and thus ignores the discrepency.

But I think I saw somewhere in the KH's book it basically states that having a higher quality astrogation computer really doesn't help you at all.  That it has no effect.  I'll have to look for that... perhaps it is no effect on the time it takes to plot your jump.  Does it give a situational bonus to your rolls for jumps with less preperation?

For instance, modern traffic lights are very effective, but even these computerized systems cannot compare with the judgment of an actual traffic cop. A level 6 program should have the same ability to judge traffic as a traffic cop (among other simultaneous functions), not just as a traffic light. Likewise, shouldn't a computer with a level 6 Astrogation program plus a level 6 Analysis program be able to reproduce the judgment of a living astrogator? And if it could, wouldn't astrogators be out of a job? But if it can't, why not?

I'm not currently running or playing in a game of Star Frontiers, but if I were, the players would surely ask immediately, "Can't the computer do this for me?"

They are like Goerge Jettson...  paid to go into work everyday and push one button.

And Strormcrow... I just started my first SF game and got that same question instantly.  

However... keep in mind... a lvl 6 computer on its own I think should be SUPER expensive and rare. I have my players on an Assult Scout now, but the game was concieved around a frigate.  Neither of these ships have computer systems that advanced... probably not even higher than lvl 3 i'm thinking but perhaps i should refresh my mind on the computer sections.  The most advanced computer on the frigate is a humanoid robot butler of sorts and i think its is like lvl 4.

I am just saying computers no matter how advanced are only as good as how they are programmed (what the program can do vs can't) and the people who operate them. Yes, these are more advanced computers but still they could be hacked, have just good enough programs and less then great operators. Thus results will vary based on the variables.

But I do understand the way it is presented in SF how one can question the jump calculations vs what a computer can do... The real issue is how different is the comp tech in SF versus our reality, just because we have certain tech now does not mean the SF Core 4 have it. I mean we went to the moon with less, what if we had figured out a way to go further right away at that lower tech level... we would be using slide rulers then. What if somehow at that level of tech we could jump ships? How much behind might be the computers then from our ability to jump? Some times tech does not progress the way we think it should. Sometimes things are conceived well before our ability to do it, or developed in strange orders. 

Also the game is a snap shot of ideas about future tech based on when it was conceived. One sci-fi series of books I have imagined a future without personal computers as computers where so huge when the author wrote. Computers all belonged to the government or corporations, as they needed whole buildings or whole floors of buildings to do what ever, and if a citizen needed to use one for personal use you had to go to the computer version of a Library, check out time on the unit and so on. I get the feeling maybe SF was more along that line of thinking.

:)