I wonder why there is all the anguish around why Lisp hasn&#x27;t flourished, and seemingly less anguish around APL, or even Smalltalk.  Is there a reason it engenders so much loyalty?  Is it the idea that macros allow you to extend the language, and that seems like the pinnacle of the programming hierarchy?  Could there be insight gleaned from looking at programming languages as a fad or style?