An interesting "alternate universe", that Smalltalk/Squeak/Cuis is... Open, highly discoverable. Which, in theory, makes it accessible for beginners and those who are not programmers; for kids, who are usually very good at discovering things. Thinking exclusively in terms of "objects" helps: objects are things that (again, in theory) immediately avail themselves to our perception via our senses as well as intuition. Yet, abstract thought is by no means excluded or even hindered - an object's nature can be quite general and abstract (not in a mathematical sense but from the object-oriented design standpoint.)

Still, all this leaves me wondering, as someone who learned programming via "traditional", i.e. compiled, languages - wondering whether being "born" into this "alternate universe" could have some kind "crippling" effect on the ability to live in a "normal" universe (say, as a professional programmer, etc).