>> Lisp has not succeeded on a relative scale. Let's not discount that.
> Is there a clear reason for this?
Yes. In the 1980s AI was teh new shiny and at that time, Lisp was almost synonymous with AI.
A bunch of people over-promised when it came to AI and expert systems, and failed to deliver. And people conflated the failure of the promise of AI with the failure of Lisp. Essentially, guilt by association -- people can be dumb that way.
Amusingly, once something in the realm of AI actually works -- we stop calling it AI. But one thing is for certain: the scruffies have been right more often than the neats.
> Is there a clear reason for this?
Yes. In the 1980s AI was teh new shiny and at that time, Lisp was almost synonymous with AI.
A bunch of people over-promised when it came to AI and expert systems, and failed to deliver. And people conflated the failure of the promise of AI with the failure of Lisp. Essentially, guilt by association -- people can be dumb that way.
Amusingly, once something in the realm of AI actually works -- we stop calling it AI. But one thing is for certain: the scruffies have been right more often than the neats.
Still, Common Lisp is pretty effin' awesome.