[patrec]

Why is this much more true of programmers than writers[1]? To what extent is it true of "proper" engineering disciplines?

[1] A couple of people here doubt it being true. It is though, and I say that as someone who enjoys reading interesting code. A good case in point is this great, probing interview by Peter Seibel of Hal Abelson:

https://gigamonkeys.com/code-quarterly/2011/hal-abelson/

Abelson: Read a lot of good code. That’s the real issue—that people don’t read code.

[...]

Seibel: I want to dig a little deeper on this. You, like many other people, say programmers should read code. Yet when I ask what code have you read for fun or edification, you—also like many other people—answer that you read students’ code, which is your job, and review code at Google, which is also your job. But it doesn’t sound like you sit down of an evening with a nice printout and read it.

Abelson: Not for a long time.

I can't imagine a professional writer answering like this.