Comments | faendryl: (без темы)

faendryl

(Untitled)

Jul 30, 2005 18:16

If all speech were in some sense executable and wouldn't "compile" otherwise, would lying become impossible? One might think not, because programs can certainly print statements which are false, but what if the same "speech" restriction applied to them? It does seem that it would play havoc with the future tense, though. Or perhaps it would only ( Read more... )

Comments 12

stolen_tea July 30 2005, 16:25:02 UTC

I think it would make poetry rather difficult... ;)

apintrix July 30 2005, 19:57:45 UTC

I don't know anything about compilers, but maybe you could make one that understands metaphor.

Or, maybe not. Anyway, interesting idea.

stolen_tea July 31 2005, 01:27:38 UTC

Hm, maybe poetry would be the equivalent of magical spells - words that mean more than they seem to, produce programs that do more than they seem to...

faendryl July 31 2005, 10:05:14 UTC

Ever read "The Wizardry Cursed", by Rick Cook? Total schlock, but very entertaining - a world where programming is magic. Also "A Wizard in Rhyme" by Stasheff, where a little poetic training becomes powerful indeed.

apintrix July 31 2005, 10:33:53 UTC

so freestyle rappers are the ultimate mages there?

Thread 5

flashfeather July 31 2005, 21:17:52 UTC

I don't know if the book was one of thse two, but I remember something very painful (ei, "total schlock") that involved freestyling wizards. x.- I would like not to think about it.

In other news, your readership is ALL nerds.

faendryl July 31 2005, 21:25:15 UTC

Not coincidentally, my readership consists of friends of mine. What on earth IS a freestyling wizard? I can't find any of the poem-spells from A Wizard in Rhyme quickly with Google; it's probably just as well.

flashfeather July 31 2005, 21:36:40 UTC

What on earth IS a freestyling wizard?

...It's a wizard that launches into horrid rhyme schemes and instant song as soon as they need something done. The sloppiness of this as a magic system just blows my mind- also see "The Dragon and the George"- I believe there may be meter-and-words-are-magic ideas in there too.

faendryl July 31 2005, 22:10:26 UTC

Yeah, that sounds like "A Wizard in Rhyme". Sloppy don't even begin to cover it. Entertaining, though, especially if one has an appreciation for the English language and bad puns.

Thread 5

r_ness August 3 2005, 16:16:30 UTC

Of course, then the questions become: "Who wrote the compiler?" "What assumptions did they make?"