The last paragraph reminds me of Fred Brook's description of Saint Remi Basilica in Reims France, in The Mythical Man-Month ... now that took a looooong time to build (around 8 centuries to complete,) but nontheless the conceptual integrity that was inherent in the original design remained well into today.

I suppose one has to look beyond the language; one really has to look outward, recognizing patterns beyond what we do recognize as patterns now, and stand in awe at those big things we are missing...