[joshcanhelp]

I appreciate the update you posted, I'll definitely read it. The paper mentioned just stuck in my head and it didn't occur to me to research it in-depth before posting.

> I wish I could understand why so many programmers are eager to assume their skills are due to something 'innate'.

I'm not eager to assume that but it lines up with my experience over the years learning how to program and helping others do the same. It seems like it comes easily to some and harder or not at all to others. When I first read summaries of that study, it sounded correct based on my experience.

Going a little further ... I will say there's something enticing about thinking that you have a special skill that others do not and that you've found purpose for that skill. It's a bit like "finding your soulmate" in a way. I think a lot of us, myself absolutely, want to find that thing that we're good at and were made to do.

Might also be good old fashioned ego :)