Although I can appreciate your point about having some 'innate' desire for an activity like coding, I think this desire is just one of many factors in choice of work.
My own anecdotal experience is that because of several factors, I had to explore many things before I could figure out that I can actually learn to code, enjoy it, create useful things and be (relatively) good at it. All of this was necessary to actually be able to produce some code for a living.
Here's a list of some of the factors that may affect your desire, aside from some innate interest and intelligence:
- Having access to a computer at an early age and in the formative period
- Parental interest in computing and/or STEM
- Parental understanding of computing and/or STEM (informal tutoring)
- Parental pressure/expectations to pursue computing and/or STEM
- Effective teaching of math and computing concepts as a jumping board
- Knowledge of English (given that most programming concepts were defined in English first)
- Early successes and/or rewards in coding/STEM as opposed to non-STEM
- Social valuation of programmers and STEM (i.e., "nerds")
- Parental socioeconomic status
- Number of siblings (e.g., with respect to competition or pressure to leave home early)
- False beliefs ("I'll never be good at math/coding")
- Learning consistency and discipline (i.e., spaced repetition)
- Knowledge of how to learn difficult subjects effectively
- Recognition of fun or social usefulness of coding (with respect to any other pursuit)
- Understanding of implications of choosing particular options (e.g., college prep, career progression) instead of others, at particular stages in life (12-18 years old, with family)
- Familial duties (caring for a parent/sibling, having kids early)
- Sunk cost fallacy (i.e., 3rd year medical school, working vs going back to school)
Again, intelligence and innate desire will play a role, but I think there is nothing genetic about loving to look at some text on a computer. Personally, I met enough intelligent people, STEM and non-STEM, who think they should've just developed a desire for programming because they're burned out, exploited, fatigued and/or underpaid. These aren't implications most could predict when they made significant career choices.
My own anecdotal experience is that because of several factors, I had to explore many things before I could figure out that I can actually learn to code, enjoy it, create useful things and be (relatively) good at it. All of this was necessary to actually be able to produce some code for a living.
Here's a list of some of the factors that may affect your desire, aside from some innate interest and intelligence:
- Having access to a computer at an early age and in the formative period
- Parental interest in computing and/or STEM
- Parental understanding of computing and/or STEM (informal tutoring)
- Parental pressure/expectations to pursue computing and/or STEM
- Learning disabilities (ADHD, dyslexia, numeracy)
- Introversion/extraversion
- Visible role models in STEM
- Addictions (gaming, social media, TV)
- Effective teaching of math and computing concepts as a jumping board
- Knowledge of English (given that most programming concepts were defined in English first)
- Early successes and/or rewards in coding/STEM as opposed to non-STEM
- Social valuation of programmers and STEM (i.e., "nerds")
- Parental socioeconomic status
- Number of siblings (e.g., with respect to competition or pressure to leave home early)
- False beliefs ("I'll never be good at math/coding")
- Learning consistency and discipline (i.e., spaced repetition)
- Knowledge of how to learn difficult subjects effectively
- Recognition of fun or social usefulness of coding (with respect to any other pursuit)
- Understanding of implications of choosing particular options (e.g., college prep, career progression) instead of others, at particular stages in life (12-18 years old, with family)
- Familial duties (caring for a parent/sibling, having kids early)
- Sunk cost fallacy (i.e., 3rd year medical school, working vs going back to school)
Again, intelligence and innate desire will play a role, but I think there is nothing genetic about loving to look at some text on a computer. Personally, I met enough intelligent people, STEM and non-STEM, who think they should've just developed a desire for programming because they're burned out, exploited, fatigued and/or underpaid. These aren't implications most could predict when they made significant career choices.