I would focus on "lisp without the parentheses" languages like F# or OCaml. Even when I write in any other language, I think by composing and chaining operation

I would focus on "lisp without the parentheses" languages like F# or OCaml. Even when I write in any other language, I think by composing and chaining operations without considering the runtime machine (the internal hows). Eliminating time from cognitive load is the greatest cheat. Being able to write programs like correct SQL result set first, then refine for performance would be nice. Most processes can be modelled as input, acyclic series of boxes, output. Put persistence at the ends and the language is largely an implementation detail, as is the choice of persistence.