I love the vector space analogy. I have been thinking about the same thing: that the simplest languages have a minimal set of "orthogonal" features; though it

I love the vector space analogy. I have been thinking about the same thing: that the simplest languages have a minimal set of "orthogonal" features; though it never occurred to me to describe them in those terms. But hey, it's Rob Pike. I was bound to walk away with something after listening to him talk :)