[uberc]

I can't say how "amateurs" maps to MIT freshmen, but I wanted to point out that back in the day SICP was used, in its entirety, in 6.001, the one-semester entry-level computer science course at MIT.

[dschiptsov]

That is true. People who were able to find their way to MIT is by no means "amateurs".

The rest of us, however, might find it overwhelming, due to lack of appropriate habits and training.