The Curse of the Excessive Parentheses: A Plague Upon the Land of Lisp

In the mystical realm of Lisp, where the ancient ones once wielded the power of parentheses to craft elegant and efficient code, a dark force has risen to threaten the very fabric of the programming language. The scourge of excessive parentheses, once a mere annoyance, has grown into a full-blown epidemic, spreading its irritating tendrils throughout the land.

The Origins of the Plague

Legend has it that the first Lisp programmer, cloistered in their tower of solitude, stumbled upon the concept of parentheses as a means to contain and organize the chaos of code. And thus, the parentheses were born, a symbol of elegance and simplicity. But as the ages passed, a subtle corruption crept into the hearts of Lisp programmers. They began to crave more, to desire an excess of parentheses, as if the very presence of these symbols could imbue their code with an aura of sophistication.

The Symptoms of the Curse

The afflicted programmers, once masters of their craft, now find themselves ensnared in a labyrinth of unnecessary parentheses. Their code, once a paragon of clarity, has devolved into a tangled mess of redundant symbols. The innocent () has become a curse, a constant reminder of the programmer's own hubris.

(defun example-function ()
  ((((((((lambda (x) (cons x x)) 5))))) 10))

Behold, the horror! The parentheses, once a gentle guide, now writhe and twist like a serpent, choking the life from the code.

The Consequences of the Plague

As the curse spreads, the land of Lisp is plagued by a multitude of ills. The once-proud towers of code, now crumbling under the weight of excessive parentheses, threaten to topple, burying the programmers beneath a mountain of redundant symbols.

The people of Lisp, once united in their pursuit of elegance and simplicity, are now divided, some clinging to the old ways, while others revel in the chaos of the parentheses. The very fabric of the language is torn asunder, as the afflicted programmers, driven by their madness, create ever more convoluted and impenetrable code.

The Search for a Cure

In this darkest of hours, a glimmer of hope remains. A small band of brave programmers, armed with the wisdom of the ancients, has set out to vanquish the curse of the excessive parentheses. They seek to rediscover the lost art of simplicity, to tame the wild beast of the parentheses, and to restore the land of Lisp to its former glory.

Will they succeed in their quest? Only time will tell. But for now, the people of Lisp can only tremble before the might of the parentheses, and pray for the dawn of a new era, free from the curse of the irritating, stupid, and excessive parentheses.