I disagree with a few points in the article, I personally hold the opinion that programming does require at least average to slightly above average intellect.
I also disagree with firing bad programmers until one knows why they are bad. It is a dirty secret that we don't lift each other up. That there are very few companies that have programmers that will make it their mission to on-board, train and level up other employees.
If a developer has an inquisitive nature, a passion for learning and at least an average intellect they can be a really good programmer. It is just literally no one takes the time to invest in them. I cannot count the orgs I have been in where developers are on-boarded get to work with someone for a day or two, a week maybe at best and then are just thrown to the wind.
I have taken several individuals with the qualities I highlighted above and turned them into exceptional developers. One of which most would think was an absolutely horrible and inept, turned out he was just autistic and staid introverted due to the stigma. Once I worked to break the ice and gain his trust he was a brilliant developer going on to single handed implement several multi-million dollar features. The rest of the team wanted to fire him, none of them to the time to invest in him before they made that decision.
The naked truth is a lot of us are introverts we don't go out of our way and we let others sink under their own weight. Other industries don't do this, they try to help everyone that is competent float. We should get better at doing so.
