[Axiom-developer] Lisp

[daly]

Bill,

To quote the article:

  "For many months the Lisp advocates pressed on. I was baffled. 
   Many extremely intelligent people I know and had much respect 
   for were praising Lisp with almost religious dedication. There
   had to be something there, something I couldn't afford not to
   get my hands on! Eventually my thirst for knowledge won me over.
   ...[snip].... And then I got it.

   The enlightenment came instantaneously. One moment I understood
   nothing, and the next moment everything clicked into place. I've
   achieved nirvana. Dozens of times I heard Eric Raymond's statement
   quoted by different people: "Lisp is worth learning for the profound
   enlightenment experience you will have when you finally get it; that
   experience will make you a better programmer for the rest of your
   days, even if you never actually use Lisp itself a lot." I never
   understood this statement. I never believed it could be true. And
   finally, after all the pain, it made sense!. There was more truth
   to it than I ever could have imagined. I've achieved an almost
   divine state of mind, an instantaneous enlightenment experience
   that turned my view of computer science on its head in less than
   a single second"


I wrote:
> I COULD have written it as "strings" that read exactly like 
> the original syntax but I gained several advantages by using
> lisp-like syntax.

You wrote:
> What you wrote is not just lisp-like, it *is* lisp

which, if you deeply understood what you said, would be a profound statement.





Either you "get it" or you don't. There is no half-way with Lisp.  
There are no words to explain what it means to "get it" until you do 
... and then there is no reason to explain it; you get it. 

I wasn't trying to start a language debate. I was only trying to point
people at a very gentle introduction by someone who suddenly "got it"
and was trying to help others "see the whole elephant". 

Why don't we just let this rest and not turn it into a debate. 


Tim