#+title: Cybernetics Versus Informatics: Understanding the Type Wars | Medium.com

- tags :: [[file:../20200708122521-cybernetics.org][cybernetics]] [[file:../20200708122541-type_theory.org][type theory]] [[file:../20200708122545-category_theory.org][category theory]]
- [[https://medium.com/@rplevy/cybernetics-versus-informatics-understanding-the-type-wars-99878fe956d6][source]]

* Notes
- The two competing visions that emerged in the early days of programming came
  from mathematics ([[file:../20200604222651-lisp.org][Lisp]]) and engineering (Fortran)
- informatics :: systems that consume data, manipulate it in terms of semantic
  meaning, and produce meaningful results
- cybernetics :: systems that satisfy requirements meaningfully and adaptively
  in novel and uncertain environments
- Lisp was born out of an environment that sought to understand computing as
  solving symbolic expressions (like you do in math)
- Usage of Lisp declined as interest in classical AI (symbolic AI) declined, as
  Lisp was thought of being the language of AI
  + Symbolic AI stressed a neo-[[file:../20200708123521-cartesian_dualism.org][Cartesian]] model of computing, by which sensory
    input was processed through "brain modules"
- As Lisp faded into the background, another mathematical concept began coming
  to the foreground: static type checking and "programs-as-proofs"
- [[file:../20200708123759-clojure.org][Clojure]] was a huge innovation in the Lisp world, bringing immutability and
  laziness, among other things
  - Clojure seeks to maximize expressivity over formal verification, although
    formal verification is a goal as of 2016
- Languages like [[file:../20200708123930-haskell.org][Haskell]] and [[file:../20200708123936-standard_ml.org][Standard ML]] use their type systems to allow for
  formal verification
- 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.
  - The informatics approach to solving this problem would be to model the world
  - the cybernetic approach would be to create adaptive systems that are capable
    of adapting to such a thing