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"We Really Don't Know How to Compute!" - Gerald Sussman (2011)

Strange Loop Conference · talk · Watch on YouTube

Functional programmingTech pioneers & interviewsBiology & biotechnology

What it is

Gerald Sussman's 2011 Strange Loop keynote argues we still do not know how to compute, comparing biological systems with how we program machines. It touches on propagators, constraint programming and robustness.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN commenters recommend it as a mind-expanding talk on rethinking programming, and cite it in threads on propagators, constraints and brittleness.

  • 5 people recommended it
  • 5 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2022, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “all of Brett Victor's speeches to be incredibly inspiring”

    Inspiring talk on rethinking computation

    pfarrell, 2022-11 · Recommendation · in “Fred Brooks has died”

  2. “you might be interested in”

    Sussman talk relevant to the topic

    pvillano, 2023-02 · Recommendation · in “The program is the database is the interface”

  3. “it made me question my views on what I think programming is”

    Talk that made commenter question what programming is.

    throwaway71271, 2023-09 · Recommendation · in “Programming Is Hard”

  4. “I highly recommend Prof. Sussman talk at the Strange Loop conference 2011”

    Sussman talk on research with former students.

    teleforce, 2025-04 · Recommendation · in “Prof. Sussman's Reading List (2016)”

  5. “mandatory Sussman reference [0], where he talks about correctness not being that important”

    Sussman on correctness, brittleness, and being close enough.

    gobdovan, 2026-06 · Recommendation · in “My Software North Star”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: gerald sussman, propagators, constraint programming, scheme, biological computing

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