An article exploring why Lisp's parenthesis-heavy syntax is perceived as harder to read than languages like Python or Java. The author argues that beyond familiarity, cognitive science effects like the Stroop effect and pop-out effect explain why prefix notation (operation arguments) is less readable than infix notation (operation arguments), and suggests these insights could inform better programming language design.
Two cognitive science books by Steven Pinker and Henry Plotkin present a rationalist view of the mind as a computational, modular system shaped by evolution, departing from traditional empiricism. While the author acknowledges this New Rationalism as superior to empiricism, he argues their version is flawed and their optimism about progress is unwarranted.