[jmcdiesel]

Thats kinda the point... with the vast array of languages out there, that are performant and powerful and very well established, why should anyone suffer through the learning curve? what value does the language offer to make that worth the effort?

[eastWestMath]

Well, evaluation in these languages is more transparent. The syntax is basically the lambda calculus, so once you've actually learned the language it makes a huge difference. I'd try reading up on "referential transparency".