Well, the real question is what Curtis means by symbol, as the answer he gave is rather cryptic. But since he specifically raised the issue of "gensyms", that seems to be a reference to a standard Lisp function that generates symbols, a first-class Lisp data structure, at run-time or, more usually, at macro-expansion time. Since Curtis has complained about macros in the past, I assumed this was what he was referring to. "Symbols" that exist only in the textual representation of the language and not as first-class data types are usually called "identifiers" rather than symbols precisely to avoid this sort of confusion.

In any case, it is an elementary exercise to define a formal computational system equivalent to the lambda calculus that uses integers rather than identifiers. Instead of λx.x you write λn where n is an integer. 0 refers to the value bound by the innermost scope, 1 to the value bound by the next outer scope, and so on. So, for example, λx.λy.x becomes λλ1. But of course, no one does this because it's completely pointless.

Very happy to hear that.

> I'm not sure I'm able to understand the implicit criticism at the user level.

Let me make the criticism explicit then: inventing a new language is not hard. People do it all the time. It's an elementary exercise. However, inventing a good new language, i.e. one that actually advances the state of the art and provides a substantial advantage over existing languages -- that is very hard. That happens very rarely, probably less than a dozen times in the history of computing.

Although I have never heard Curtis say so explicitly, the rhetoric surrounding Urbit strongly implies that Nock and Hoon are languages of the second sort, that is, that they provide some benefit that existing languages lack, and without which developing Urbit would be substantially more difficult or even impossible. My question for the last four years has been: what is that benefit? Do Nock and Hoon really advance the state of the art in programming language design, or is their sole purpose to be the Shiny New Thing that gets people excited? Because if it's the latter, that does not bode well for Urbit's long-term prospects. Nothing gets to be the Shiny New Thing forever.

> It's very difficult to think clearly inside of someone else's intellectual framework.

That may be true, but do you not see the irony here? You didn't invent Nock/Hoon, Curtis did. So if you are thinking clearly, then you are doing it in someone else's intellectual framework, precisely the thing you say is very difficult.

> What Nock does seem to unlock is incredible amount of enthusiasm.

That I don't doubt. Curtis is a master marketeer. But Donald Trump is unlocking an incredible amount of enthusiasm too. Just because a lot of people get enthusiastic about something doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea.