Notes
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The two competing visions that emerged in the early days of programming came from mathematics (Lisp and engineering (Fortran)
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informatics :: systems that consume data, manipulate it in terms of semantic meaning, and produce meaningful results
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cybernetics :: systems that satisfy requirements meaningfully and adaptively in novel and uncertain environments
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Lisp was born out of an environment that sought to understand computing as solving symbolic expressions (like you do in math)
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Usage of Lisp declined as interest in classical AI (symbolic AI) declined, as Lisp was thought of being the language of AI
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Symbolic AI stressed a neo-Cartesianmodel of computing, by which sensory input was processed through "brain modules"
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As Lisp faded into the background, another mathematical concept began coming to the foreground: static type checking and "programs-as-proofs"
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Clojurewas a huge innovation in the Lisp world, bringing immutability and laziness, among other things
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Clojure seeks to maximize expressivity over formal verification, although formal verification is a goal as of 2016
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Languages like Haskelland Standard MLuse their type systems to allow for formal verification
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If a dog wanted to reach something across a barrier, in the real world it would use its accumulated experience, exploitation of the environment, and experimentation to find a solution.
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The informatics approach to solving this problem would be to model the world
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the cybernetic approach would be to create adaptive systems that are capable of adapting to such a thing
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