My only interaction with DAO was when I read the information on their webpage. Although a bold initiative it was obvious that was flawed, mainly on its economics rather than its smart contracts side. I did not even bother to buy a single token.

I will agree with those who pointed out, it was the human factor that caused the havoc, since the machine just went ahead and executed the code introduced. Of course this assesement may change as soon as new information come into light and the incident is studied thoroughly.

Regardless of the abovementioned I would go a step further, and for the sake of the argument, even dismiss it all. The reason of this failure is too many new features were tried upon a single platform on a single shot. Most of the time this ends badly, as there are too many "X factors", and according to Murphy's Law, the probability of failure is increased significantly.

Smart contracts need not anyone to intrepret them or give a final approval as long as it is widely understood their limitations and advantages. As soon as this is a fact, then it will be possible to develop the field. Let's not compare the discipline of contract composition being around for centuries, with a fresh trustless effort of just a few months (smart contracts) or years (blockchain).

I could not agree more with the points made about interface-implementation, sidechains and standardized contracts for the masses.

Governance is not critical and will only serve as a middle step so as to allow those involved in smart contracts to mature, feeling safe and shielded by malicious or accidental incidents in the mean time.

My advise as always, is to start making simple smart contracts, with the lowest degree of freedom, and as soon as there is confidence built up, then move to more complex structures. Even in that case, initially, I would still just bind together simple smart contracts with predicates, working with "truth tables".

Just another exciting day in the never boring world of blockchain.

Always do your own research before you invest and remember. If it is too much for you to understand, either skip or wait until you do understand what is going on.

Cheers!