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Lisp! This reminds me of one of my favorite things I learned about Lisp. Lisp has a distinction between two functions eq and equal. equal is the normal programming language function - you can compare two things (lists, atoms, whatever) and see if they are the same. But if two things are eq to each other, they point at the very same thing. A professor illustrated the difference this way: if you and I both have a penny, you can say the are equal to each other. However, if you put your penny on the railroad tracks and watch the train squash it, and I discover that the penny in my pocket is also squashed, then the two pennies were eq to each other. Deep, eh? –PaulHolbrook

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