I came up with some code when trying to understand applicatives:

import Control.Applicative

import qualified Data.Map as M

instance Applicative (M.Map String) where

pure x = M.fromList [("",x)]

fs <*> xs = M.fromList [(k1 ++ " " ++ k2,v1 v2) | k1 <- M.keys fs, k2 <- M.keys xs, v1 <- M.elems fs, v2 <- M.elems xs]

1. When I :load this in ghci it gives me some error about using (M.Map String) here, and tells me it'll work if I use the -XFlexibleInstances flag. Why is this type of behavior disabled by default? Is it potentially dangerous in some way?

2. When running the following:

fromList [("double",(*2))] <*> fromList[("two",2),("seven",7)]

I get:

fromList [("double seven",4),("double two",4)]

instead of what I'd expect:

fromList [("double seven",14),("double two",4)]

Although this:

(*2) <$> fromList[("two",2),("seven",7)]

gives what I'd expect:

fromList [("seven",14),("two",4)]

Why is this happening? I can't seem to figure it out.