I think there is room for nuance. For example, it is true to say, “Programming requires intelligence.” It is also unnecessary to say, “You can’t program if you’re dumb.” One of these statements is productive and not insulting, the other isn’t.
> For example, it is true to say, “Programming requires intelligence.” It is also unnecessary to say, “You can’t program if you’re dumb.”
I promise if you get far along enough in your career you will realize this is very much not true, it's a thing people like to believe, but there are plenty of deeply stupid programmers out there with long, annoying careers.
I feel like the definition of "stupid" here is important.
There are a lot of incredibly clever programmers out there who will construct intricate webs of abstracted hell because they are clever. These guys are mostly not "stupid". One of my colleagues working on one of these code bases with me described it as "very smart people doing very stupid things".
And yes, they all have long and annoying careers.
Contrast this with the swathes of what I would characterise as "rat cunning" programmers who were everywhere during the Y2K crisis. They knew just enough to be dangerous, did some truly stupid things and disappeared from the programming world afterwards. The unkind might say they all turned into systems architects and project managers.
My observation is that there's likely a sweet spot. Though this is a multidimensional vector so it's not one sweet spot.
A programmer can find a niche where their skill has value for a long period of time, even if their situation (mental flexibility, willingness to learn, etc.) precludes exiting the niche. It can be a challenge to work with someone like that if you have to interface to them and their approach is to pull you all the way over to where they are.
... but sometimes that's how it is. And I've seen plenty of smart programmers smother their ability to provide value for real people under analysis paralysis while the "stupid" programmers bull-charge in with the first approach they can think of and write some ugly, stupid, spaghetti, working tools.
They don't seem exactly the same. I think there's a general sense that most people are in the middle. Neither intelligent nor dumb. Those are the outliers. It's not so bad to be in the middle.
Just my two cents.