epistemology - LeFreq/Singularity GitHub Wiki
Epistemology is the study of how we know the world. I've used the term as a way to understand and categorize different (mainly 4) ways general-purpose computers are used.
Most computer programs after the invention of functions, but before the advent of Object-oriented programming belong here. Functions allowed the abstraction of computation, allowing functions calling other functions in complex ways to develop complex and sophisticated computation. Consider it like a graph. Each function is a node in the graph and the output of the function serves as the input into the next.
What this OS adds is the reason to have such a system at all: discoverability. People are making things all of the time: objects/apps/data. These things almost universally have utility beyond the initial use (like a programmer rewrites a function to be more generic to make it more re-useable).
Discoverability is the idea that when you have an idea for something that you need, you can find it on the network. Linux approaches this at the gross level with Free applications. But this is too coarse-grained. Intelligent users will fine-tune many apps/object, but in the current paradigm, it always feels like you're using someone else`s "underwear"; i.e. their idea of interacting with your data, their idea of user interfacing and so forth. The Unified Data Model allows the complete development of a singular platform, fine-tuned over millions of iterations, through millions of other programmers and developers and users into the perfect platform for all.
The system is intelligent in that it assumes an ad hoc, stochastic peer network of around 4 peers per node, that can then pass on requests for objects FORWARD, propagating exponentially until it finds what it needs. It does this by mirroring what some viruses did back in the day: cloning itself onto a new machine, keeping track who's already been visited, until it finds what it needs or fails. Once it finds it, it can go back via the immediate route of the normal IP network to do the transfer.
Since discovery relates to epistemology, it also includes the idea of exploration of new ideas -- using the computer to explore new frontiers of thought by its abilities. For example, what happens when you add up all the prime numbers, does it ever generate another prime (yes)? The computer can explore territories that no person has explored before. This is why it's another quadrant of computation.
PositionOS makes use of the programming language FLY. FLY is a language based around a flow network, allowing multiple execution paths simultaneously. Its central data structure is the graph, allowing many others to be made from it. Three primary types: Chr, int, float. Arbitrary precision versions of these are made with the graph, chaining them together to form strings, bigints, and decimals.