This is why I respect the Functional Programming movement: they get it. Functional Programmers understand that (at a minimum) 50 years of research and refinement is a pretty good thing to stake your data types on. ​ Stick to actual mathematics. You'll have to learn it eventually, you may as well not cloud your own thinking in the process. ​ Mathematics is the simplest and most precise language mankind has ever invented, and you should be able to speak it.