Author here, that's an apt analogy. Perhaps it helps to understand where I was coming from; I had never written a line of LISP and was struggling to fully grasp the power that Paul Graham had hinted at. So I started at the beginning, and although it was just the brim of the rabbit hole it certainly opened my eyes. And I hope it can help other beginners open their eyes as well.

I plan to fall down the LISP rabbit hole one day, and continue this series in full detail.