The Nature of Exploration

Reading Brian Green's recent post about the nature of exploration games prompted me to think about the core distinctions one can make about exploration. Specifically, I think exploration breaks down into two major types: exploration of things (places, objects, story lines, etc) and exploration of relationships (physics model, crafting systems, talent builds, etc). Notice that this distinction is exactly parallel to the code/data distinction programmers (can) make.

What would the nature of exploration content in a lisp-like world be?

How about in a prolog-like declarative world?

Or a ml-like functional world?

Where does the exploration content of current games fall?