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It's odd that he dismisses most existing Lisps, then advises the reader to create their own. I wasn't sure if he meant it pedagogically or pragmatically or both.

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Good question. I think that the crux is that if you're enthusiastic about PLs, you have to create your own or be enslaved by another man's. That's my feeling at least. And on the way to creating your own PL, you'll also learn to appreciate the existing PLs and implementations better, and learn to live with them, warts and all.

Gotcha. And an influx of new and experimental Lisps is always welcome.

Right on :)

I can see it as purely an academic exercise. But what good is inventing a language that nobody else knows? How do we communicate? How do we share code?

Languages are important to the extent that people decide to learn them and use them, and that way lies politics.

Some people, like me, simply can't not create PLs. This post is for them. Politics doesn't even enter the picture.

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