I have experience with tons of languages, lisps and non-lisps.

I don't really get this argument. It's not any harder to read `(if foo` than it is to read `if (foo)`. It's purely a matter of what you've gotten used. I don't think it's an objective measure, it's purely about what you've already trained your brain to pattern-match on.

> and has much more focus on text over symbols than other languages

Funny how you get the exact opposite complaint about languages like Perl.

Let’s talk about text over symbols and readability.

Return the maximum value of the array “numbers”. The languages are listed in descending order of text > symbol.

Clojure:

  (apply max numbers)

JavaScript:

  Math.max(...numbers);

APL (I couldn't find how to apply this to an arbitrary array):

   ⌈/ 4 3 2 7 5 1 3

Here’s a guess:

  ⌈ numbers

The most aymbol-focused is the least readable to me, and Clojure is the only one that returned good results from a Google search to figure out what was going on. Both “JavaScript ...” and “APL ⌈” gave me irrelevant results.

Furthermore, how is this

  (if a
      true-cond
      false-cond)

harder to read than this, aside from familiarity?

  if (a) {
    trueCond
  } else {
    falseCond
  }

In the latter case, the if/else requires a special syntactical structure. And since it cannot be used as an expression, the common desire to conditionally assign a result spawned the ternary operator: a whole separate syntax that only applies when you want to assign a result to something. In lisps, you just use “if” wherever you need a binary conditional.

While I agree with your statement, I would probably downvote your comment if it wasn't grey already. The reason is that you mostly state your opinion (aggressively so), but fall short on arguing why your opinion is true. If you can extend your argument / extend the list of arguments, I think your comment would find more appreciation.

People saying that Lisp is as easy to read since you get used to it is like people saying that salad is as tasty as cake since you get used to it. Sure someone eating cake for the first time after having only eaten non sugary stuff for a long time will find it a bit jarring, but anyone eating both will find cake so much tastier, which is why people overeat cake so much.

Yet many people will still adamantly say that they find salad tastier. And still go on and eat cake and get fat. They are just lying to themselves, I'm not sure why. Lispers are the same way, its just a reality distortion field.

Why say lispers are "reality destorted"? Maybe they have learned something you have yet to understand?

Have you ever programmed a decently sized lisp program using an editor that allowed you to work at the AST level?

Until then, there's just a large probability, regardless of how tasty cake is, that your displaying classic ignorance.