[plt-scheme] Re: Change the World

On Mar 22, 2005, at 08:46, Richard Cobbe wrote:
> Why does he [Knuth] feel that he doesn't make those kinds of errors?

He admits he makes mistakes, just at a tiny tiny fraction of the 
typical rate.  Else he wouldn't have written any checks for $2.56.  I 
have never gotten a $2.56 check, and if I had, I would put it up on the 
wall just as others have done.  But the more people keep hexadecimal 
checks, the less motivation for safety checks.

I bet he stays away from "safe" languages because he doesn't want to 
become lazy, he wants to stay sharp.  We need a programming language 
that rewards you when it can find no flaw in your code.  I think Minsky 
said he wanted to build a computer that could be proud of him.  I'd 
rather have Scheme analyze my faults than mere bits.

Geoffrey
--
Geoffrey S. Knauth | http://knauth.org/gsk