There's a lot here I would like to respond to, but I'll limit myself to a couple points:
> The whole POINT is that there are complex language features which have to be enabled if you want them
Yes, "if you want them". If you value having a simpler language, don't use them. And Haskell is hardly unique in this regard. You've mentioned GCC, but I think the Babel transpiler is another good example.
> You have mastered Haskell and forgotten what lack of complete understanding means to anyone else.
I've managed to teach my daughter some Haskell, who had no prior exposure to programming languages whatsoever, so I doubt your assertion is entirely true.
The hardest programming language I ever learned was the first one. Each one after that was easier than the one before...until I got to Haskell. It was so different that I was forced to go back to a more fundamental understanding of the nature of code and computation and start from there. It felt pretty challenging, especially at first, but I think that had more to do with my perspective and experience coming into it than the language itself (and the fact that I had a family and career at that point didn't help).
> The whole POINT is that there are complex language features which have to be enabled if you want them
Yes, "if you want them". If you value having a simpler language, don't use them. And Haskell is hardly unique in this regard. You've mentioned GCC, but I think the Babel transpiler is another good example.
> You have mastered Haskell and forgotten what lack of complete understanding means to anyone else.
I've managed to teach my daughter some Haskell, who had no prior exposure to programming languages whatsoever, so I doubt your assertion is entirely true.
The hardest programming language I ever learned was the first one. Each one after that was easier than the one before...until I got to Haskell. It was so different that I was forced to go back to a more fundamental understanding of the nature of code and computation and start from there. It felt pretty challenging, especially at first, but I think that had more to do with my perspective and experience coming into it than the language itself (and the fact that I had a family and career at that point didn't help).