Subject: Re: [lojban] lojban application in wearable computing

From: "Robert J. Chassell" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2002 12:19:44 +0000 (UTC)

.... few Lisp functions have a "subject", while
basically all Lojban bridi do, so what do you do with the x1 places?

This statement confuses me. I just glanced at the 153 Emacs Lisp
functions in the Emacs simple.el. library: it looks to me that all of
them have a subject. 

However, that subject is not stated overtly. The subject is the
computer and the mode is imperative. Thus, we have commands such as:

computer, move point backwards one word 
or
you, help me compose email in the other window
or
you, return the value of 2 plus 2

where `you' refers to the computer.

Questions with true or false answers are the same. 
Thus, the definition for the function `byte-compiling-files-p' is 

(defun byte-compiling-files-p ()
"Return t if currently byte-compiling files."
(and (boundp 'byte-compile-current-file)

and that means

You, computer! Tell me whether you are currently converting
source code that a domain-educated human can read to code that is
less humanly readable, but more efficient for you to run.

What might, on the surface, look like statements of context, such as 

if it is sunny, you are on the daylight side of the planet and
there are no clouds
or
Bob is the son of Joseph

are, from the computer's point of view, imperatives:

Computer, record in your data base the following conditional:
if it is sunny, .....
or 
You, set the son-of relationship such that Bob is the son of
Joseph.

The advantage of Lojban is that it is more than an imperative
language in disguise. 

-- 
Robert J. Chassell [email-masked]
Rattlesnake Enterprises http://www.rattlesnake.com