Sigh. A type `m` is a "monad" if a few functions can be written for it with the following signatures (there are some laws too, but just ignore those until you u

Sigh. A type `m` is a "monad" if a few functions can be written for it with the following signatures (there are some laws too, but just ignore those until you understand the basics): return :: a -> m a bind :: (a -> m b) -> m a -> m b That's all it is. What you've described is a particular type for which these functions can be written. My advice: stop trying to think of particular ways monads can be used. Rather, you need to understand it as embodying a special flavor of embedding values and functions from one space (the space of simple types a, a -> m b) into another (the space of types m a, m a -> m b). So, bind, apply and map are just ways of lifting different-shaped functions into (m a -> m b): map :: (a -> b) -> (m a -> m b) -- from Functor bind :: (a -> m b) -> (m a -> m b) -- from Monad apply :: m (a -> b) -> (m a -> m b) -- from Applicative The moment you start trying to understand these with some first-order metaphor, you know you've lost the way! :)