I think there may be something to this. I'm used to programming in PHP and Objective-C and going to Ruby just throws my brain for a loop. I just can't grok it, and reading someone else's Ruby code confuses the hell out of me. I'm more of a designer than a programmer, so take this all with a grain of salt, but coming from a C-style language background I totally feel like a different part of my brain needs to turn on (or off?) to program in Ruby.

This is a warning for future you:

Objective-C, when used like Objective-C and not just C-with-classes, is a lot like Ruby. Both have a shared heritage in Smalltalk.

E.g. http://www.cocoadev.com/index.pl?HigherOrderMessaging

Have you tried Python? My own biased opinion is that Ruby is a problem for some people in the same way Perl is a problem for some people: too much syntax. (I happen to like both Perl and (more so) Python but not really Ruby for other reasons.) Edit: Oh, and PHP was my first language. My feelings about PHP are more or less expressed within this submission.

The problem is that if all you know is a C style language, getting past non c style syntax is a hard job all by itself. I had a hard time learning clojure, but once I did it was a snap to learn common lisp, scheme, and elisp. Same kind of deal (only I think, a bit more extreme), its a matter of having the right background

I would prefer a different analogy. Something like, Heavy Metal & Classical music or Dub-Step & Country.

I leave assigning these as an exercise for the reader.

I like both.