I think the major reason is that software is largely invisible. If the normals could SEE the fractal Rube Goldberg machines made out of Rube Goldberg machines

I think the major reason is that software is largely invisible. If the normals could SEE the fractal Rube Goldberg machines made out of Rube Goldberg machines they would have the expected reactions. So many people shut off their critical thinking skills as soon as you rub a computer on it. (Whatever "it" is: cars, ponzi schemes, whatever.) - - - - The second major reason is that the IT industry is fashion-driven. We are more fashion-driven than the actual fashion industry. It took fifty years for type-inference and -checking to break into the mainstream, not because it didn't work or wasn't useful but just because it wasn't fashionable. - - - - I think the answer is, in a word, convergence. We have to converge on simple, reliable, proven systems (or watch the world melt into unbounded complexity and unpredictability.)