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There's a Star Trek TOS episode "Errand of Mercy" where the simple primitive inhabitants of Organia are caught in the middle of a war between the Federation and

There's a Star Trek TOS episode "Errand of Mercy" where the simple primitive inhabitants of Organia are caught in the middle of a war between the Federation and the Klingons. Kirk is baffled because the Organians refuse his help to defend them against the Klingons. Finally when the Organians have had enough they simply make all the guns disappear, revealing themselves to be a much more advanced species than either of the fighting races. Lisp reminds me of the Organians. It seems simple and kind of boring until you try something you know is impossible and it just works. It spoils you for other languages.

DannyB2 7y ago
Impossible might not be the right word. When I was much younger, I would describe it as seeing things done easily in Lisp that I had no idea how to do at all. Lisp could easily express ideas that I didn't know how to express in other languages. Just as Pascal had made it possible for me to express ideas that I had no idea how to express in BASIC. Lisp gave me new tools. Just as earlier Pascal had given me new tools. The Organians told Kirk and the Klingons that they would one day be friends. And rise to their level. Ironically, languages in the 90's and 2000's borrowed more and more from Lisp. Starting with most languages of the last quarter century having Garbage Collection.