Is Python a Zen language?

[John Coleman]

Crutcher wrote:
> You are a very silly person. You have tripped so many of my internet
> bullshit triggers that I think perhaps you are trolling. All languages
> alter the way you think. They structure the nature of questions you can
> ask, and problems you can solve.
>
> Do you understand 'Zen', by which I mean, have you devoted at least 5
> years of study (real, 5+ hrs/week studdy) to it? (btw, I have not). If
> your answer is no, then you are just using this to be cool.
>
> And if you can say 'no value judgment is intended by my
> classification', you have absolutely no right to talk about the nature
> of language, let alone go about labeling things 'Zen languages'.
> Honestly, classification is an act of valuation, it requires an
> introspective assesment of your personal language system. This stuff is
> _old_, not new, not novell.
>
> Go read a book.
> Like this one: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/the_book.html

If appearing silly is the price of satisfying your curiousity then so
be it. I would, however, like to point out that there is a well
established usage of the word "Zen" in computer science. A trip to
almost any bookstore will unearth many books with titles like "Zen and
the Art of Cascading Style Sheets", etc. A similar usage appears with
the word "Tao", e.g., "The Tao of Objects". These usages seem to point
to a deep, intuitive understanding that eludes many beginners and is
difficult to put into words. My point is simply that, for some
languages L, "Zen and the art of L" or "The Tao of L" are plausible
titles ("Zen and the Art of Lisp Programming" would be plausible) but
for some languages they wouldn't ("The Tao of Fortran" ?) Do you
disagree? If you do, how would *you* articulate the difference in
culture between something like Scheme and something like Fortran?

I have no doubt that this usage of terms from Eastern Mysticism must be
annoying to someone such as yourself who has actually studied it, but
the genie can't be put back into the bottle. It is no longer really
plausible to be a purist regarding words like "Zen" or "Tao" - it just
makes you appear pedantic.

Hopefully I have tripped less of your "internet bullshit triggers" this
time. If not, you should really adjust your settings.

-John Coleman