> I'd argue that lack of static typing makes a language tougher to learn rather than more approachable
I think it's a bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing. It makes it harder to master, but less intimidating when you're first starting out.
Also, I probably shouldn't have used the term static typing, since the issues I'm talking about are more associated with weak typing rather than dynamic typing.
We have differing definitions of friendly. Since I understand types and operator overloading, I know that 1 and "1" are different. I also know that the operator + does traditional math addition and concats Strings. If I didn't, it would probably drive me bonkers that "1" + 1 is "11" in JS instead of 2 or even "2". Having knowledge about types and overloading automatically tells me that String + Int = String.
I'm not saying that JS is bad since it lacks static typing. I'd argue that lack of static typing makes a language tougher to learn rather than more approachable. The barrier of entry is lower, but makes comprehension tougher.