Common lisp isn't functional in that sense.
replySure the language might not be immutable but the lisp machine alt universe's "overton window" would I imagine be more functional then today's (JVM? maybe that's the qnalog?) reality.
replyCommon Lisp is pretty much the opposite of what people think of as functional nowadays. You're constantly changing the image and everything is mutable.
replyImage saving isn't something that's done very often, in practice.
replyI would presume there was a lot of mixing of imperative/functional in the 80s where this alt universe starts. I think the same type of world in which lisp machines would have become king would also be similar
reply> Personally I think/hope they would have earlier discoveries / more broad usage of the deterministic systems like nix etc, which are built upon functional principles of immutability etc.
replyYeah, that, uh, doesn't sound like Lisp