The problem with macros is that they aren't very polymorphic - you can't set default variables or pass in custom key/values as you can in Python's functions, fo

The problem with macros is that they aren't very polymorphic - you can't set default variables or pass in custom key/values as you can in Python's functions, for example. You can't? I think I do this all the time (unless I'm misunderstanding). Good post, by the way. I have been thinking about similar things recently and I agree with you. The idea that we'll build up a tower of abstractions that lets us sit on top and do powerful things forever is in some ways a gigantic mistake (q.v. "The Princess and the Pea"). You can do things with smaller, simpler white-box environments that you can't do with large, complicated black-box ones. Something like this is the principle behind what Alan Kay's group is working on, too. I wonder if the industry will ever absorb this. Based on what we know of software history so far, it would probably take some kind of killer app built on top of the radically new thing.