[Haskell-cafe] Re: Against cuteness

[Achim Schneider]

Benjamin L.Russell <DekuDekuplex at Yahoo.com> wrote:

> >OTOH, laziness(yin) and strictness(yang) make a far better pair of
> >unified opposites than the schemeish eval and apply (which's outer
> >essences are both yang, changing to yin only by means of what they
> >execute[2]).
> 
> Indeed.  But strictness would not characterize Haskell, would it?
> 
Not by itself, no. But Haskell, as a language that's neither strict nor
lazy, but non-strict (and can therefore combine eagerness and laziness)
is closer to the Tao of execution than any "purely strict" or "purely
lazy" language. One, after all, cannot be without the other: Both are
not separate, but distinguished only by our perception.

> >What about a chicken holding a curry dispenser? In any case, I don't
> >think a sloth is a bad choice as a mascot: It's most likely the most
> >efficient animal on earth, and seeing it, you're bound to be
> >mystified how it manages to get anything done.
> 
> It's indeed efficient, but also slow; while Schemers are accused of
> knowing the value of everything, but the cost of nothing, a sloth
> mascot could cause Haskellers to become accused of knowing the
> efficiency of everything, but the speed of nothing, no?
>
I'd say we know the necessity of everything, but the schedule of
nothing.

...the point I'm trying to make here is that the appearance of
swiftness is not everything: A tight loop executing nop's may seem
busy, but won't tell you much interesting stuff.

Imagine a cute sloth peeking out of a PC case, together with "Lazy bum
is executeing ur prugram, but only half of it"


> >Water overcomes stone:
> >Shapeless, it requires no opening:
> >The benefit of taking no action.
> >
> >Yet benefit without action,
> >And experience without abstraction,
> >Are practiced by very few.
> 
> Nice poem.  Did you write it yourself, or can you document the source?
> 
It's out of the Tao te Ching, by, allegedly, Lao Tzu. It hints at
Wuwei[1], or, from another angle, Kant's Categorical Imperative.


[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_wei

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