[bgilroy26]

> No one using Brainfuck will never be as productive as Python, to take an extreme case.

Isn't it a good thing then, that no one prefers using Brainfuck to using Python at work? Leaving things up to preference doesn't mean that all the choices are the same. It means that the languages and the use cases are so varied that it isn't a good idea to restrict oneself blindly to a language before evaluating the use case. It doesn't seem like you are really in disagreement.

[pretoriusB]

>It doesn't seem like you are really in disagreement.

Oh, I'm very, very much in disagreement.

It's not just about "preference" as if preference is arbitrary.

Superficial syntactic preference IS arbitrary.

Substancial syntax issues are not.

Brainfuck is not just left alone because people don't "prefer" its syntax. That's reading it in reverse. People don't prefer Brainfuck's syntax because it is objectively, and for reasons related to human psychology, cognition, etc bad.

E.g it makes it measurably difficult to discern different program states.

[bgilroy26]

Preference isn't arbitrary, people make reasoned judgments to determine what tools they will use to get their work done.

No one spends 40 hours a week with a language without knowing its strengths and weaknesses.

[jacquesm]

> No one spends 40 hours a week with a language without knowing its strengths and weaknesses.

I wouldn't take that bet.