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In 1988 I was an intern at HP Labs and my project was 50% Lisp and 50% C, the latter half dealing with time-critical IO and low-level routines crunching CAD tab

In 1988 I was an intern at HP Labs and my project was 50% Lisp and 50% C, the latter half dealing with time-critical IO and low-level routines crunching CAD tablet input. At the end of a day working on the Lisp portion, which assembled sketched lines into a CAD model I went home happy and relaxed with a feeling of accomplishment. At the end of the C days I felt tense and slightly worried, thinking about ways of more cleverly detecting what the user was trying to sketch on the tablet. In my 20+ years of programming I never returned to Lisp and I don't quite know why I don't miss it. I have a vague nostalgia for Lisp but I think modern programming languages give us enough tools to get our job done without feeling too much shame about abandoning the purity of Lisp. Also, the proselytizing has not helped. I think the "Blub paradox" article embodies the mindset that was ultimately the nail in Lisp's coffin.

mwfunk 11y ago
I had to Google the Blub Paradox (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Graham_%28computer_programmer%29#The_Blub_paradox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Graham_%28computer_progra...) but I see what you mean. It's based on the idea that someone who disagrees with you about something can't be acting rationally, rather that they are somehow incapable of perceiving your wisdom. Sometimes that is the case, of course, but I don't think that explains why Lisp isn't the universal language that everyone writes everything in. I have a lot of warm fuzzy feelings about Lisp as well, but a lot of Lisp advocacy has been of the "One True Language" variety as opposed to "right tools for the right job, and here's why Lisp might be the right tool for you". It doesn't affect my perception of Lisp, but it doesn't help market it either.
- force_reboot 11y ago
  The name doesn't help at all. "Blub" has connotations of bumbling stupidity even without knowing what the "Blub Paradox" is.

mwfunk 11y ago

I had to Google the Blub Paradox (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Graham_%28computer_programmer%29#The_Blub_paradox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Graham_%28computer_progra...) but I see what you mean. It's based on the idea that someone who disagrees with you about something can't be acting rationally, rather that they are somehow incapable of perceiving your wisdom. Sometimes that is the case, of course, but I don't think that explains why Lisp isn't the universal language that everyone writes everything in. I have a lot of warm fuzzy feelings about Lisp as well, but a lot of Lisp advocacy has been of the "One True Language" variety as opposed to "right tools for the right job, and here's why Lisp might be the right tool for you". It doesn't affect my perception of Lisp, but it doesn't help market it either.

force_reboot 11y ago
The name doesn't help at all. "Blub" has connotations of bumbling stupidity even without knowing what the "Blub Paradox" is.