50 ms·

Why did John McCarthy "discover" lisp?

5 points by mgla 14y ago

Why do people say that he "discovered" lisp instead of "invented"? Am I missing something?

jlgreco 14y ago
The more general question is "Why is mathematics said to be discovered, rather than invented." People can, and have, written full-fledged papers about this. Suffice it to say though, that Lisp is said to be discovered because that is the terminology typically used with things in mathematics.
- mheathr 14y ago
  It would be strange to claim to have invented something that already existed, but whose status exists only because people were unaware of it prior. People did not say that they invented gold when it was discovered for instance.
  - jlgreco 14y ago
    If you really want to examine whether mathematics is discovered or invented, you very quickly become immersed in philosophy. It's an interesting conversation to have once or twice, but I'm a tad too drunk for that tonight. ;)
  - informatimago 14y ago
    In latin, discoverer is translated as inventor. They means the same thing. In French, somebody discovering a treasure can be called "l'inventeur du trésor".
- lifeisstillgood 14y ago
  Usually inventing is creating something that does not exist in nature, discovery is revealing an aspect of nature previously unknown Mathematics is discovered, simply because mathematics was invented elsewhere in order to run the matrix we have evolved on. Apparently in a pan galactic hyper intelligent teenagers bedroom
unimpressive 14y ago
>Am I missing something? Yes. Consider the parentheses in an s-expression. (function foo bar) The s-expression is a universal structure that can be used for every construct in a lisp. Notice that the core structure is not changed if we replace the parentheses with say, semi-colons. ;function foo bar; The core of the concept remains the same. McCarthy's discovery is classed as such because as a construct s-expressions can be crafted from any set of symbols.[0] [0]: This statement is probably false in more ways than one, that still doesn't damage my point.
fractallyte 14y ago
Lisp is an expression of the Lambda Calculus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda_calculus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda_calculus). And here's an interesting discussion that should answer your question: http://www.quora.com/Do-aliens-have-LISP http://www.quora.com/Do-aliens-have-LISP
jonjacky 14y ago
John McCarthy himself said, "Pure Lisp was a discovery, everything that has been done with it since has been an invention." McCarthy said this while visiting a class at Stanford on May 7 2008 --- according to an eyewitness report here on Hacker News! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=185348 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=185348

5 points by mgla 14y ago

Why do people say that he "discovered" lisp instead of "invented"? Am I missing something?

The more general question is "Why is mathematics said to be discovered, rather than invented." People can, and have, written full-fledged papers about this. Suffice it to say though, that Lisp is said to be discovered because that is the terminology typically used with things in mathematics.

mheathr 14y ago
It would be strange to claim to have invented something that already existed, but whose status exists only because people were unaware of it prior. People did not say that they invented gold when it was discovered for instance.
- jlgreco 14y ago
  If you really want to examine whether mathematics is discovered or invented, you very quickly become immersed in philosophy. It's an interesting conversation to have once or twice, but I'm a tad too drunk for that tonight. ;)
- informatimago 14y ago
  In latin, discoverer is translated as inventor. They means the same thing. In French, somebody discovering a treasure can be called "l'inventeur du trésor".
lifeisstillgood 14y ago
Usually inventing is creating something that does not exist in nature, discovery is revealing an aspect of nature previously unknown Mathematics is discovered, simply because mathematics was invented elsewhere in order to run the matrix we have evolved on. Apparently in a pan galactic hyper intelligent teenagers bedroom

unimpressive 14y ago

>Am I missing something? Yes. Consider the parentheses in an s-expression. (function foo bar) The s-expression is a universal structure that can be used for every construct in a lisp. Notice that the core structure is not changed if we replace the parentheses with say, semi-colons. ;function foo bar; The core of the concept remains the same. McCarthy's discovery is classed as such because as a construct s-expressions can be crafted from any set of symbols.[0] [0]: This statement is probably false in more ways than one, that still doesn't damage my point.

fractallyte 14y ago

Lisp is an expression of the Lambda Calculus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda_calculus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda_calculus). And here's an interesting discussion that should answer your question: http://www.quora.com/Do-aliens-have-LISP http://www.quora.com/Do-aliens-have-LISP

jonjacky 14y ago

John McCarthy himself said, "Pure Lisp was a discovery, everything that has been done with it since has been an invention." McCarthy said this while visiting a class at Stanford on May 7 2008 --- according to an eyewitness report here on Hacker News! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=185348 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=185348