> but as we all know, no progress has been made in this field since Lisp came out.

Although I totally disagree with this, I think it would be a great question for McCarthy.

Also, if I were to meet with McCarthy, I would ask him about his fascinating opus on the sustainability of human development. (Summary: A: Nuclear power will be the future B: With huge amounts of energy, humanity can do anything)

http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/