The fact that dozens of companies have been built around millions of lines of Common Lisp code at all levels of abstraction solving some of the most complicated problems is a testament to the scalability of Lisp.

What has changed is that most software shops aren’t solving technical problems anymore. Most places are engaged in the business of plumbing—connect this database (whose problems are solved) to this dashboard (whose problems are solved)—but many of us don’t want to admit it. It’s not glamorous and Silicon Valley prefers to keep its death grip on titles like “Senior Solutions Architect.” Plumbing doesn’t necessarily need expressive power of a programming language, but I contend that problem-solving greatly benefits from it.