I think it's worth pointing out that Python only became popular after Google started using it. Remember when every nerd on the web was an ardent defender of Google? When people wanted to reach for a new language (say, for data science, also a new thing at the time) they reached for that slightly obscure yet easy to learn language that the cool tech company used. Schools adopting it exposed it to more people, but they picked it up, again, cuz Google used it and it was easy to learn.

Nowhere in that decision-making process is there the consideration of if it's actually a good language, more efficient, more flexible, more powerful, faster, etc. It was ease of use and "the cool kids are using it".