[rw]

C is pretty print for assembly - you will learn much about how the von Neumann architecture operates. Python, on the other hand, is an excellent "glue" language, but it fails to allow us to program in a "highly-abstractable" way (like Lisp) or to easily produce fast code (like C).

In the tower of abstraction, I've found it more useful to learn the bottom and the top, and leave the middle to be figured out on a per-project basis; e.g. learn assembly/C, Scheme/Common Lisp, then Python to make implementation details easier.

Also, you could learn 2-4 languages concurrently. This makes for a challenging ride but it is also empowering, because you can compare them so easily.

[noodle]

good points. i'd like to think he'd take a class in his CS curriculum where he has to learn a few languages either concurrently or consecutively but very quickly.