I think major contributor is the "Python is slow" meme. Sure it is slow when compared to C or something, but most of the time the time you save by implementing

I think major contributor is the "Python is slow" meme. Sure it is slow when compared to C or something, but most of the time the time you save by implementing in Python massively out weights any performance gains, but since everyone keep saying that "Python is slow" it pushes some people to go and try to make it fast. Good example of above is this line from you (highlight mine) >An incredible amount of effort has been wasted making Python a *viable* language. What does it even mean for a language to be "viable"? Is fast execution the only criteria? There are good reasons why we aren't writing all software in C or Assembly for maximal potential performance.