Answers.Body: <p>LISP was popular because back in the old days of AI because of the functional syntax, which worked well with the GOFAI paradigm of the time. </p>
  
  <p>Nowadays <em>most</em> researchers have given up on the classical computational theory of mind (read: <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/computational-mind/#ClaComTheMin" rel="noreferrer">language of thought</a>), and thus also the GOFAI paradigm that it associates with.</p>
  
  <p>LISP is not what you want to learn if you want to do neural network stuff, but the philosophical background is still important to know.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-06-27T20:53:36.753Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2017-06-27T20:53:36.753Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: k.c. sayz 'k.c sayz'
Body: <p>Lisp was originally created as a practical mathematical notation for computer programs, influenced by the notation of Alonzo Church's lambda calculus. It quickly became the favored programming language for artificial intelligence (AI) research, according to Wikipedia. </p>
  
  <p>If Lisp is still used in AI, then is it worthy of learning it, particularly in the context of machine learning and deep learning?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2017-06-23T20:08:00.590Z
Comments.Text: Possible duplicate of [Is Lisp still being used to tackle AI problems?](https://ai.stackexchange.com/questions/77/is-lisp-still-being-used-to-tackle-ai-problems)
Comments.UserDisplayName: mindcrime
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2017-06-24T06:16:38.573Z
Comments.Text: All languages have their advantages. LISP has many advantages which still makes it good for use in AI. This [link](https://ai.stackexchange.com/questions/2236/why-is-lisp-such-a-good-language-for-ai) will help.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Ugnes
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-11-17T15:40:05.567Z
Comments.Text: This [question/answers](https://ai.stackexchange.com/questions/2236/why-is-lisp-such-a-good-language-for-ai/2238#2238) will be a nice place to look.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Ugnes
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2020-05-13T20:18:34.997Z
Comments.Text: Please, next time ask a question that can be answered more objectively. Asking if something is "worth learning" will lead to opinions. A better way of wording this would be "What are the pros of using Lisp for this task X?". Keep this in mind next time!
Comments.UserDisplayName: nbro
Tags: <machine-learning><deep-learning><history><programming-languages><lisp>
Title: Is Lisp still worth learning today in the particular context of Machine learning?
UserDisplayName: Maheshwar Ligade
ThreadText: # Is Lisp still worth learning today in the particular context of Machine learning?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2017-06-23)
  
  Lisp was originally created as a practical mathematical notation for computer programs, influenced by the notation of Alonzo Church's lambda calculus. It quickly became the favored programming language for artificial intelligence (AI) research, according to Wikipedia.
  
  If Lisp is still used in AI, then is it worthy of learning it, particularly in the context of machine learning and deep learning?
  
  **Tags:** machine-learning, deep-learning, history, programming-languages, lisp
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Possible duplicate of [Is Lisp still being used to tackle AI problems?](https://ai.stackexchange.com/questions/77/is-lisp-still-being-used-to-tackle-ai-problems)  
  > **username_2**: All languages have their advantages. LISP has many advantages which still makes it good for use in AI. This [link](https://ai.stackexchange.com/questions/2236/why-is-lisp-such-a-good-language-for-ai) will help.  
  > **username_2**: This [question/answers](https://ai.stackexchange.com/questions/2236/why-is-lisp-such-a-good-language-for-ai/2238#2238) will be a nice place to look.  
  > **username_3**: Please, next time ask a question that can be answered more objectively. Asking if something is "worth learning" will lead to opinions. A better way of wording this would be "What are the pros of using Lisp for this task X?". Keep this in mind next time!  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2017-06-27. Score: 6 | Accepted answer
  
  LISP was popular because back in the old days of AI because of the functional syntax, which worked well with the GOFAI paradigm of the time.
  
  Nowadays *most* researchers have given up on the classical computational theory of mind (read: [language of thought](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/computational-mind/#ClaComTheMin)), and thus also the GOFAI paradigm that it associates with.
  
  LISP is not what you want to learn if you want to do neural network stuff, but the philosophical background is still important to know.
  
  
  ---
  
  