> `foo :: Semigroup a, Traversable t => t a -> a` I already know that whatever is passed to this function can be traversed and have it's sum computed. It's impossible to pass something which doesn't satisfy both of those constraints as this is a specification given at the type level which is checked at compile-time.

To add to your point, I don't think foo can even be implemented (more accurately: is not total) because neither `Semigroup a` or `Traversable t` guarantee a way to get an `a`.

I think you'd need either `Monoid a` which has `mempty`, or `(Foldable1 t, Traversable t)` which guarantees that there's at least one `a` available.