It's funny, because I find Erlang to be one of the least accessible languages I've ever tried (and my entry into this world of digital wonders was thru disassembling cracktros on a M68k, before internet, in a then-foreign language).

That said, the metaphors are so elegant, the key concepts so well chosen -- yes, the initial onramp may be a cognitive slog, but it's well worth it. It makes everything downstream so much easier.