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Kishotenketsu Programming?
mike_stay asks: "Imperative Programming follows closely the 'outline' style of writing most of us were taught in elementary school. Japanese, however, have a very hard time with that writing style, as they've been trained in the concept of kishotenketsu: stories are usually told by bouncing around between various points of view, which necessarily give different accounts; no attempt is made to say what 'really' happened. 'Good writing style' expects readers to draw the conclusions; writing that is too explicit is not valued. The writing, therefore, tends to be inductive: specific examples precede general principles. The closest thing I can think of to kishotenketsu in programming is functional programming or declarative languages, but then, I'm American. Would other readers point me at other languages with this type of 'eastern' feel?"
I would suggest you look into aspect oriented programming, or perhaps multi-dimensional separation of concerns.
A good place to start is aosd.net
What you're refering to is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, the statement that human thought is limited by the language of the thinker. I think it's mostly discredited anymore, though I could be mistaken. Some interesting stuff, though.
Visit me on #weirdness on the Galaxynet.
It's lame to reply to oneself but I found a reference discrediting Sapir-Whorf: Steven Pinker.
The "strong form" of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, that language restricts thought, is not taken very seriously by linguists anymore. The "weak form", that language influences thought is pretty widely accepted.
Trees can't go dancing
So do them a big favor
Pretend dancing stinks!
No it isn't. Kishotenketsu is a direct evolution of classical Chinese literary formats, it has nothing to do with aversion or deference. It is an artistic format based not on delivering new information, but on referencing classical works already known to everyone. The reader must notice the references to understand the subtext.
Anyway, I am glad that everyone liked my Powerpoint Syndrome essay, I wondered where all those hits were coming from!