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460 points pieterr | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.216s | source
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munchler ◴[] No.42158589[source]
> The computer revolution is a revolution in the way we think and in the way we express what we think. The essence of this change is the emergence of what might best be called procedural epistemology — the study of the structure of knowledge from an imperative point of view, as opposed to the more declarative point of view taken by classical mathematical subjects

Ironic, given the increasing use of functional programming in domains where old-fashioned imperative/OO programming used to reign alone.

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namaria ◴[] No.42159002[source]
I think in the context of the book 'procedural epistemology' encompasses all programming, not just what you'd call procedural programming.
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munchler ◴[] No.42159119[source]
Hmm, I don’t think so. Functional programming is definitely based on the “declarative point of view taken by classical mathematical subjects”.
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1. magical_spell ◴[] No.42164156[source]
My understanding agrees with namaria's. I'm inclined to think that, in the passage you provide, `imperative' means `pertaining to processes' (where processes are those things described by procedures; or, perhaps better put, the meanings of procedures).