X-Git-Url: http://lambda.jimpryor.net/git/gitweb.cgi?a=blobdiff_plain;ds=inline;f=week3.mdwn;h=b29d095a1f8157725ec1febe67ccfa3abf9663b7;hb=1d29453465d5f709699abd2adeb2b75ad6695a7f;hp=45aa5b3d3e95135605be4f61b47275b426aa2cb1;hpb=bd9306cd8ed960db37717c40573e8230a9dd65bf;p=lambda.git
diff --git a/week3.mdwn b/week3.mdwn
index 45aa5b3d..b29d095a 100644
--- a/week3.mdwn
+++ b/week3.mdwn
@@ -211,7 +211,9 @@ Instead of writing out a long formula twice, we could write:
and the initial `(\x. x x)` is just what we earlier called the ω
combinator (lower-case omega, not the non-terminating Ω
). So the self-application of `H` can be written:
-
ω (\h \lst. (isempty lst) zero (add one ((h h) (extract-tail lst))))
+ω (\h \lst. (isempty lst) zero (add one ((h h) (extract-tail lst))))
+
+
and this will indeed implement the recursive function we couldn't earlier figure out how to define.
@@ -435,15 +437,15 @@ For those of you who like to watch ultra slow-mo movies of bullets
piercing apples, here's a stepwise computation of the application of a
recursive function. We'll use a function `sink`, which takes one
argument. If the argument is boolean true (i.e., `\x y.x`), it
-returns itself (a copy of `sink`); if the argument is boolean false,
-it returns I. That is, we want the following behavior:
+returns itself (a copy of `sink`); if the argument is boolean false
+(`\x y. y`), it returns `I`. That is, we want the following behavior:
sink false ~~> I
sink true false ~~> I
sink true true false ~~> I
sink true true true false ~~> I
-So we make sink = Y (\fb.bfI):
+So we make `sink = Y (\f b. b f I)`:
1. sink false
2. Y (\fb.bfI) false
@@ -485,3 +487,100 @@ the behavior of `sink` is sensitive to the nature of the input: if the
input is the magic function `false`, the self-regeneration machinery
will be discarded, and the recursion will stop.
+That's about as simple as recursion gets.
+
+##Base cases, and their lack##
+
+As any functional programmer quickly learns, writing a recursive
+function divides into two tasks: figuring out how to handle the
+recursive case, and remembering to insert a base case. The
+interesting and enjoyable part is figuring out the recursive pattern,
+but the base case cannot be ignored, since leaving out the base case
+creates a program that runs forever. For instance, consider computing
+a factorial: `n!` is `n * (n-1) * (n-2) * ... * 1`. The recursive
+case says that the factorial of a number `n` is `n` times the
+factorial of `n-1`. But if we leave out the base case, we get
+
+ 3! = 3 * 2! = 3 * 2 * 1! = 3 * 2 * 1 * 0! = 3 * 2 * 1 * 0 * -1! ...
+
+That's why it's crucial to declare that 0! = 1, in which case the
+recursive rule does not apply. In our terms,
+
+ fac = Y (\fac n. iszero n 1 (fac (predecessor n)))
+
+If `n` is 0, `fac` reduces to 1, without computing the recursive case.
+
+There is a well-known problem in philosophy and natural language
+semantics that has the flavor of a recursive function without a base
+case: the truth-teller paradox (and related paradoxes).
+
+(1) This sentence is true.
+
+If we assume that the complex demonstrative "this sentence" can refer
+to (1), then the proposition expressed by (1) will be true just in
+case the thing referred to by *this sentence* is true. Thus (1) will
+be true just in case (1) is true, and (1) is true just in case (1) is
+true, and so on. If (1) is true, then (1) is true; but if (1) is not
+true, then (1) is not true.
+
+Without pretending to give a serious analysis of the paradox, let's
+assume that sentences can have for their meaning boolean functions
+like the ones we have been working with here. Then the sentence *John
+is John* might denote the function `\x y. x`, our `true`.
+
+Then (1) denotes a function from whatever the referent of *this
+sentence* is to a boolean. So (1) denotes `\f. f true false`, where
+the argument `f` is the referent of *this sentence*. Of course, if
+`f` is a boolean, `f true false <~~> f`, so for our purposes, we can
+assume that (1) denotes the identity function `I`.
+
+If we use (1) in a context in which *this sentence* refers to the
+sentence in which the demonstrative occurs, then we must find a
+meaning `m` such that `I m = I`. But since in this context `m` is the
+same as the meaning `I`, so we have `m = I m`. In other words, `m` is
+a fixed point for the denotation of the sentence (when used in the
+appropriate context).
+
+That means that in a context in which *this sentence* refers to the
+sentence in which it occurs, the sentence denotes a fixed point for
+the identity function. Here's a fixed point for the identity
+function:
+
++ Y I + (\f. (\h. f (h h)) (\h. f (h h))) I + (\h. I (h h)) (\h. I (h h))) + (\h. (h h)) (\h. (h h))) + ω ω + &Omega ++ +Oh. Well! That feels right. The meaning of *This sentence is true* +in a context in which *this sentence* refers to the sentence in which +it occurs is Ω, our prototypical infinite loop... + +What about the liar paradox? + +(2) This sentence is false. + +Used in a context in which *this sentence* refers to the utterance of +(2) in which it occurs, (2) will denote a fixed point for `\f.neg f`, +or `\f l r. f r l`, which is the `C` combinator. So in such a +context, (2) might denote + + Y C + (\f. (\h. f (h h)) (\h. f (h h))) I + (\h. C (h h)) (\h. C (h h))) + C ((\h. C (h h)) (\h. C (h h))) + C (C ((\h. C (h h))(\h. C (h h)))) + C (C (C ((\h. C (h h))(\h. C (h h))))) + ... + +And infinite sequence of `C`s, each one negating the remainder of the +sequence. Yep, that feels like a reasonable representation of the +liar paradox. + +See Barwise and Etchemendy's 1987 OUP book, [The Liar: an essay on +truth and circularity](http://tinyurl.com/2db62bk) for an approach +that is similar, but expressed in terms of non-well-founded sets +rather than recursive functions.