Re: Storing data and code in a Db with LISP-like interface
dawn wrote:
> Marshall Spight wrote:
> >
> > The question of what kind of mathematical structure is best
> > suited for a particular task is a good one. The question
> > of which one is most like "the Real World(tm)" or "the
> > way the Human Mind works" is not useful,
>
> I'll agree with the first, although using such terms can be a shortcut.
> I definitely disagree with the latter. When we are talking about
> humans modeling data or any aspect of software, it makes a lot of sense
> to ask how the human mind works.
I think I know what you mean, but I have to disagree with what
you said. We just don't *know* how the mind works. We have
scratched the surface, but we don't really know anything
substantive.
> It is a good idea to ask whether we
> are using an approach that renders an obscure specification that is
> likely to be misinterpreted by another software developer in the
> future, for example.
Sure. But what you're describing is usability, user interface,
whatever. It's categorically not "how the mind works."
There are people who will assert things as crazy as saying
that their brain is object-oriented, by which they mean
not that they find it easy or useful thinking in object oriented
terms, but that they actually believe there are representations
of objects inside their heads. Or lists, or imperative code,
or whatever it is. Not just metaphorically, but actually. There
are also people who will assert that physics or the natural
world is implicitly imperative, or ordered, or unordered, or
whatever. They are the CS equivalent of biblical literalists.
They are nuts of course.
Looking at good design, usability, etc. is a good thing. Believing
that one's thoughts are *implemented* in one's favorite
programming paradigm is a mild form of mental illness.
Marshall
Received on Sat Apr 01 2006 - 10:38:53 CEST
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