Theory of Everything

Oh yes, it certainly does . I think the problems arise when certain narrow minded folk (of both sexes) seem to assume that "different" must mean "better" or "worse". I don't know if you found this, but I always, always found that women made better LISP programmers than the guys...something about the non-linear, loopy, recursive nature of well written LISP programs seems to just mesh well with the female mindset, whereas the guys were generally (but not always) better with the more logical, lateral and linear tasks and languages. Personally, I love LISP, but I'm not good at it...the only time I've ever really grokked it was during a mushroom trip lying flat on my back with my girlfriend of the time on a bed in a hotel in Amsterdam...the fact that it was being explained to me by two giant reindeer in the ceiling didn't seem weird at the time (I had been reading a book called "the mind in the cave", about paleolithic cave art and the evolution of consciousness and art, so I think that's where they came from), but I could suddenly SEE the LISP program I'd been working on as great looping swirls of interconnected colours that folded back on themselves in more than three dimensions...unfortunately when the 'shrooms wore off, so did my new found and very brief understandingof LISP. Still love it though

Sorry about that completely off-topic ramble - I wasn't really thinking about what I was writing...as you may be able to tell .

You mentioned something about my last post being over you head...don't worry, it's so far over my head I can't even see it any more...I'm kind of just connecting random thoughts together and hoping they kind of synergistically make something greater than the sum of original ideas.

Were you working in IT during your 15 years, or was it another field? Just being nosey - you're a pleasure to have a discussion with, even if we have both discussed ourselves into stuff we don't understand

Thanks again.

 

Well, I don't know what LISP is, so I can't speak to this.

LOL. The same often happens in dreams. In reality, there was probably never such an "understanding" in the first place.

My husband and I owned a small software business.

 

It stands for LISt Processing...very old programming language - it's often said (well, it is by LISP programmers) that if FORTRAN is the father of programming languages, then LISP is the mother. It's also said that learning to program well in LISP will make you a better programmer in whatever language you use. Technically, it's the prgrammatical realisation of Alonzo Church's Lambda Calculus of Recursive Functions (I don't even pretend to understand this)...one of the key features of LISP is that the entire program, or any part thereof, is a LISP data structure...the upshot of this is that, combined with recursion, the program can self-modify while it runs..effectively writing itself. It's insanely powerful, insanely twisted...and just insane.

There was so - the reindeer told me!!

Anyway, enough discussion of obsolete programming languages, however much fun it is

Where did we get to with the ToE? Or had we shifted to the difference between women and men's brains?

Do you still work in IT? If not, what do you do? (Sorry, I know I'm being randomly nosey - just tell me to sod off if I'm prying too much - I won't be offended. Once I've gone into the corner and had a good cry, I'll be fine).

Definitely need another interesting discussion - I've only just got back online after about a year mainly offline and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy a good discussion with intelligent, pleasant people...thanks, you've brightened the last two days for me

Toodle pip for now.

 

So is it pronounced "LITHP"?

Nahh. We sold the company and I retired.

Toodle pip to you as well.

(wait ... what does that mean, anyway???)

 

It is pronounced LITHP in kind of hacker culture, funnily enough Smartass

Toodle pip is an old (1930's era I think) english form of "goodbye"...if you read some of the old Biggles books you may well come across it...or Jeeves and Wooster, that kind of thing.

Hopping back to the gender brain divide for a second, d'you think it's a case of nature or nurture, or a combination of both? Would it be possible to raise a girl to think more logically and linearlly (I'm pretty sure that's not a word) and conversely a boy to think in a more lateral, non-linear way?

Just a thought........

Anyway, pip pip, tally ho!, chocks away Ginger!

Toodle pip.

 

I remember there was a lot of research some years ago on this subject ... before we were "Venus and Mars", we were right-brained and left-brained.

I'm not sure the distinction is all that useful really, except to neurologists or in cases of brain trauma. The "normal" brain integrates the two hemispheres so seamlessly that it's hard to tell which one is "in charge" at any given moment. That's not considering handedness, of course.

 

*sits with head in hands*

 

Meaning what ... ?

 

Eh?

If anyone's interested I've just started a new thread on the nature of life and related stuff...don't know if it's your cup of tea, but if so, I'd love to hear (see? read?) your thoughts...