The Erasmatron includes a simple programming language for storytellers. This programming language makes demands on the artistic people who'll be creating storyworlds. Is this an inappropriate demand? Some people think that whatever it takes to make a good artist makes it impossible to be a programmer. So, is the Erasmatron an impossible dream?
I attribute most of the problem to cultural conditioning rather than intrinsic talent. One of the things that always impresses me is the ability to artists to master complex technical skills when they see them as an intrinsic component of their art. Sculptors surprise me with their appreciation of fine points of materials engineering; photographers learn all sorts of technical esoterica about light, lenses, film response, and so on. Thus, I think that artists can't program for the same reason that executives can't type, or women can't fix leaky faucets, or men can't change a diaper -- not because they're stupid, but because they expect the task to be outside the ken of their role. Some men can in fact change a diaper; some women can fix a faucet; some executives have learned to use a keyboard. Don't tell me that artists are incapable of programming; we just need to establish a social expectation that a man can change a diaper and still be masculine, a woman can fix a faucet and still be feminine, an executive can use a keyboard and still be exalted, and an artist can program a computer without being a techie geek. It has taken a few decades, but men are learning to change diapers. Now it's the turn of the artists.