About the name shen(神)

[Hung Fai Tang]

Hi, all. Originally search something about static typing lisp and then go along a post in stackoverflow and finally come here.

It is impressive that a language can run on so many platforms. Never hear any other have done that.
The most innovative part of shen I think is the type system. It seems to be programmable.
Frankly speaking, I don't really understand it. Going through the tutorial give me some sense that it is like Haskell type system,

but the 'if' part in the type declaration hook me to think how far it could go and what the limitation is.

By the way, I tried shen on the node(linux) version. The output didn't show the type as what is written in 15mins guide.
I understand that things are not stable and complete. Let me know which is the most preferred platform.

The main thing I want to say in this post is that in day to day use, a single word shen(神) simply means God, not spirit.
If one want to refer to consciousness, we would say jingshen(精神). The meaning and usage is similar to "In spirit of somebody, ..." in English.
On the contrary, spirit sometimes refer to ghost in English, but in Chinese, there is never have that meaning associated with shen(神) as it means God.

I am born and live in Hong Kong, I know all these things. It is quite ambitious to name a programming language shen. 

It sounds to me that this language is omnipotent. If that is what you want to mean, good! =]

By the way, I found that there is a discussion of what the programmers of shen should be named. 
I have an suggestion. We may call them shenren(神人). ren(人) means human.
This is a modern and informal term to name a person who is very skillful to an extent no one know how he makes it, say being like a God.

This term is common in Taiwan, Hong Kong area, maybe also in Japan. I am not sure. 
Even though one have never hear shenren, one should be able to guess the same meaning given one has a Chinese language usage background.

Regards

Jack

[Mark Tarver]

By the way, I tried shen on the node(linux) version. The output didn't show the type as what is written in 15mins guide. 

I understand that things are not stable and complete. Let me know which is the most preferred platform.

Did you turn on the type checker - with (tc +)?

Mark 

[Tatsuya Tsuda]

Hi

Native Japanese here.

Shenren sounds nice!

>By the way, I tried shen on the node(linux) version. The output didn't show the type as what is written in 15mins guide. 
>I understand that things are not stable and complete. Let me know which is the most preferred platform.

Seems that you should use Shen based on Common Lisp.

Even turning on the type checking on JS version doesn't show a good output.

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/Qilang/linux/qilang/pUGG7hcoOTw/tLrsAIwjeNUJ

According to the discussion, SBCL version on Linux is working. (I'm using it on MacOSX)

>The main thing I want to say in this post is that in day to day use, a single word shen(神) simply means God, not spirit.
>If one want to refer to consciousness, we would say jingshen(精神). The meaning and usage is similar to "In spirit of somebody, ..." in English.

Same in Japanese :)

>This is a modern and informal term to name a person who is very skillful to an extent no one know how he makes it, say being like a God.

>This term is common in Taiwan, Hong Kong area, maybe also in Japan. I am not sure. 

Actually we don't use "神人" in that meaning in Japanese.

Just say, "He's god (神)" or "He's like god (神)".

Tatsuya

2013年9月27日金曜日 13時52分13秒 UTC+9 Hung Fai Tang:

[Jacob]

Actually, God is often referred to as a spirit, having an ethereal form, so the words are quite synonymous.  There is no other spirit that would have the energy of this one, thus Shen is the most powerful spirit.  Being the most powerful spirit, the connotation is that we are wielding the supreme creative potential(since God is the creator of all) that dwells inside the computer; language itself.  If you know anything about ancient texts; it was often the practice that one would invoke the name of a higher spirit to subdue a lower spirit.  Therefore, Shen subdues all other languages(spirits).

WARNING:  This post is highly arrogant in the fact that it relates Shen to "god of the computer" and belittles all other languages into "nothing more than mere assembly".

[Jacob]

On a related note, we need Shen to pick a planet(primary platform) with which it might display it's glory.  It need not be a planet that is uninhabitable(has a poor ecosystem with very few developers).  Then, the invisible qualities of Shen(software that is created by it, yet no one knows that it was made with Shen until they seek it's source) might lead others to believe in it's awe inspiring presence(make some dang software with it).  Shen has visited many planets and made small creations on them, yet none of these are relevant to those who dwell on the JVM, CLR, etc(the planets that matter).  The dwellers of these planets can only realize Shen through what is immediately tangible, otherwise Shen is in danger of being forgotten by the proprietors of these strange lands.  If Shen is forgotten, evil will rise up in the land and foreign gods will take its place(other crappy languages will be used).     

On Friday, September 27, 2013 4:41:00 AM UTC-4, Tatsuya Tsuda wrote:

[Mark Tarver]

From Shendoc

The words 'qi' and 'shen' are part of the Taoist vocabulary. The concept of shen belongs to a triad; jing, qi, shen. They represent stages in the refinement of energy. Jing is the sexual essence; it is the most hormonal and least refined of the life energies but important in the alchemical transformation of our energy into spirit. Qi is better known as life-force or vitality, which accumulates when jing is conserved and our kidney and natal energy is nourished. Shen is the spiritual energy that shows in shining eyes and an alert mind. In Taoist alchemy, the transmutation of jing into qi, and qi into shen is the nature of the highest Taoist practice which leads to seperation of the shen from the corporeal form, immortality and liberation from the wheel of life and death. For this reason shen is translated as 'spirit'.

In terms of this process, Qi was nourished within the physical body of a specific platform which was Common Lisp. Having nurtured it to become strong, the goal must be now to seperate Qi from conceptual dependence on Common Lisp to be able to exist as a spirit that can run on any LISP. Hence the process of our work mirrors the ancient Taoist alchemists.

Mark

[Tatsuya Tsuda]

It seems that we should learn Taoism before learning Shen :)

Also found an English Wikipedia document about the "triad". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Treasures_(traditional_Chinese_medicine)

2013年9月28日土曜日 3時12分05秒 UTC+9 Mark Tarver: