I don't think his point is that "safety, type systems and homoiconicity" don't matter. His point is that those things don't interest him as much as getting thin

I don't think his point is that "safety, type systems and homoiconicity" don't matter. His point is that those things don't interest him as much as getting things done do. Those things may help him get things done, but they're for other people to worry about while he works on his own stuff. Also, am I the only one that doesn't know what 'orthogonal' means? I assume from the context it means that these things aren't mutually exclusive. Not really sure about 'homoiconicity,' either.