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I'd definitely argue that no language ever will "feel natural" unless it fundamentally changes the metaphors of computation. Humans just don't think in sufficie
by Smaug123 6y ago
I'd definitely argue that no language ever will "feel natural" unless it fundamentally changes the metaphors of computation. Humans just don't think in sufficiently "hard-boundary" terms for programming as currently phrased to come naturally. Granted, culture has made up for a lot of that - in the UK, children are expected to be able to perform arithmetic, which presumably helps a lot in instilling the appropriate style of yes-no exact thinking - but I don't think the programming mindset aligns well at all to what was in the ancestral environment. Our minds are classifying machines built to do Just Well Enough in a world where everything is shades of grey; programming is the art of making the world concretely align to a well-specified model.
- xamuel 6y agoWhen we tell a person to do something, we always give them some freedom in how to do it. When we tell a computer to do something, we don't. If one were to instruct a human being to go to the grocery store in absolutely full micromanaged detail, it would look equally unnatural ("Lift your right knee. Swing your right foot forward. Put down your right foot...") Sort of like that videogame QWOP.