Why do people say that he "discovered" lisp instead of "invented"? Am I missing something?
Why did John McCarthy "discover" lisp?
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Re: Why did John McCarthy "discover" lisp?
#2The 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.
Re: Why did John McCarthy "discover" lisp?
#3>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.
Re: Why did John McCarthy "discover" lisp?
#4The 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.
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.
Re: Why did John McCarthy "discover" lisp?
#5The 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.
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.
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. ;)
Re: Why did John McCarthy "discover" lisp?
#6The 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.
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.
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".
Re: Why did John McCarthy "discover" lisp?
#7The 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.
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
Re: Why did John McCarthy "discover" lisp?
#8Lisp is an expression of the 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
Re: Why did John McCarthy "discover" lisp?
#9John 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!