2 ms·
It also took someone until the mid-20th century to formalize the Y combinator, though... Earliness of discovery is no grounds on which to consider the Y combina
by Chinjut 11y ago
It also took someone until the mid-20th century to formalize the Y combinator, though... Earliness of discovery is no grounds on which to consider the Y combinator less "deep" than Russell's paradox (if anything, the reverse!).
- dvt 11y agoThe Y combinator followed from of the invention of λ-calculus whereas formal logic predated both Russell as well as Curry/Haskell by a large margin. Also, the idea of a "fixed point" (consider x^2-3x+4 where there's a fixed point at x=2) had already been recognized.