> But I missed parentheses. I longed for parentheses. I dreamed in parentheses
I'm honestly kind of scared to ever learn a Lisp because it seems it permanently alters your brain to the point where it damages your ability to program in other languages (aka ones that you can responsibly use in an organisation can't rely on niche skill sets).
My friend offered to grill me a hamburger last Saturday when we were hanging out in his backyard, but I politely declined. His burgers look desirable, but I explained my concern that tasting one of his burgers might permanently diminish my appreciation of Big Macs. And besides, I can buy a big mac anywhere in the world except north korea, so really that's a more pragmatic preference.
Well I thought I was being diplomatic, but my friend just shook his head and called me a moron. Can you believe the nerve of some people?
(I don't think Lisp damages your ability to program in other languages. But I do think it puts those other languages into context and that context often makes other languages worse than they did before.)
If I were forced to live in Plato's cave, I would rather have no knowledge of anything outside of it.
Many people are locked into an ecosystem by, for example, employment. Why make yourself less happy with the tools you need to use if doing so is for no other benefit? Ignorance can be bliss.
> Why make yourself less happy with the tools you need to use if doing so is for no other benefit? Ignorance can be bliss.
It teaches you how to think about problems in your specific domain more critically, and perhaps more effectively, even if you can't directly translate idioms into another language.
However, would you consider venturing outside the cave if you were allowed to leave the cave every evening? I don't use racket at work, but I enjoy using it on the evenings and weekends. For me programming is both a career and a hobby, and for my hobby stuff, racket is more than viable. I can't have fun with racket during the day, and playing with racket during my freetime might diminish the fun I have at work when using some stodgy language, but for me it's more than worth it.
> Many people are locked into an ecosystem by, for example, employment. Why make yourself less happy with the tools you need to use if doing so is for no other benefit?
Because there is another benefit—what your job required today may not be what it requires tomorrow, and having your head stuck in the sand about everything outside of your current job requirements means your in the worst possible position when that kind of change happens.
I'm honestly kind of scared to ever learn a Lisp because it seems it permanently alters your brain to the point where it damages your ability to program in other languages (aka ones that you can responsibly use in an organisation can't rely on niche skill sets).