The Lisp Paradox

Inferior tools allow less intelligent people to create what those with greater intelligence are unable to create with Lisp.

What does this paradox mean?

Are people who choose to use Lisp actually less intelligent than people who use other languages? Is Lisp actually inferior to and less productive than these other languages? Do the few people who are able to accomplish something in Lisp actually choose it for bragging rights, the way handicaps are used in sports?

Why do people put assembly language and Lisp in the same category of difficult languages? Shouldn't the high productivity of Lisp make it one of the easy languages, like Visual Basic, Python, PHP, and JavaScript? Why is it considered a difficult accomplishment to create something useful in Lisp?

Are people who choose to use Lisp actually less intelligent than people who use other languages?

If you'd rate them by their ability to ship. Yes.

Is Lisp actually inferior to and less productive than these other languages?

Demonstrably so, yes.

Do the few people who are able to accomplish something in Lisp actually choose it for bragging rights, the way handicaps are used in sports?

No, I don't think that's right. I think they're just stuck in their ways. Read SICP as a student and never bothered to learn a .NET language. It just demonstrates a lack of real-world experience.