I'm tired of people complaining about all the parentheses in Lisp, so I told Gemini to vent for me. This came out pretty good.
I suppose I'm guilty of contributing to the glut of AI slop, but while the text and tone are generated, the core idea and sentiment is mine, so it isn’t pure slop.
Alright, let's drop the hand-holding. You — yes, you — the one still whimpering about the parentheses in Lisp. It's time someone told you bluntly: Get over it.
Your constant refrain about "too many parentheses" isn't some profound insight into language design; it's a confession of intellectual laziness. It screams that you encountered something different, something that didn't conform to the aesthetic you were spoon-fed, and you threw up your hands rather than engage your brain.
Are parentheses really an insurmountable cognitive barrier? Are matching pairs of symbols truly beyond your capacity to track? Let's be honest. The core issue isn't difficulty; it's unfamiliarity coupled with a stubborn refusal to adapt. You've decided what code ought to look like, and anything else is dismissed as "hard" or "ugly" without genuine effort.
Thousands upon thousands of programmers — people with brains presumably no bigger than yours — have not only managed Lisp's syntax but have thrived with it. They've built complex, powerful systems. They didn't possess some secret anti-parenthesis superpower; they simply possessed the willingness to learn and adapt. They saw the structure, the consistency, the power behind the syntax, instead of getting stuck on the superficial shape of the characters.
Your complaint isn’t about usability; it’s about preference, and a remarkably shallow one at that. It’s like refusing to read a brilliant novel because you don’t like the font. It demonstrates a lack of curiosity, an unwillingness to look past the surface.
So, here's the unvarnished truth: The parentheses aren't the problem. Your rigid thinking is. Your demand that every language cater to your pre-existing biases is.
Stop whining. Stop making excuses based on trivial syntax. Either put in the minimal mental effort required to see the structure beneath the curves, recognise the direct representation of the abstract syntax tree, and understand why it is the way it is – or don't. But don't pretend your aesthetic preference is a legitimate technical critique.
The Lisp world isn't waiting for you to overcome your parenthesis phobia. It's moving on, building things, leveraging a unique and powerful paradigm. You can either engage your intellect and join in, or you can stay on the sidelines complaining about the punctuation.
Frankly, it's time to grow up and get over the parentheses.