Indeed, there is a near 100% match between learning programming languages and spoken languages.

I'm not really going to argue that, but like I said, and what I probably should've pointed out is my main point - there's more (far more in my opinion) to programming than knowing a programming language.

But (at least in the UK), we do still teach children creative writing, to give them the chance to write stories

Is that mandatory? I know at least in some schools in the US they have such optional classes, and some things like creative writing are touched upon in general English classes. But yeah, I agree with you, I'm all for exposing more children to programming - I just don't think its a good idea to expect to have all of them become good at it, or take a liking to it.

There's an interesting article that touches on some of the idea that everyone should learn programming here: http://scientopia.org/blogs/goodmath/2012/10/05/everyone-should-program-or-programming-is-hard-both/

Would the same be true if those same people had encountered BASIC or LOGO in primary school, like many of us did?

Honestly, I don't know. But then, wouldn't that be the same argument for any subject area? What if instead of BASIC or LOGO you instead had equivalent exposure to music theory and music composing?

Here's the thing - I see this quickly turning into a genetics vs upbringing argument. Is everyone the same blank slate when they're born, and thus everyone is capable of learning anything that they're exposed to? (as Spiro puts its "kids are sponges") Or is there some sort of genetic predetermination of what we're good at, and what we're drawn to find interesting?

I'm very much under the opinion that its about a 50/50 mix of those two, and thus, while I'm all for more people learning programming and more programming classes in highschools and the equivalent, I don't expect that everyone should know and learn it, or be able to comprehend it.

I'm not so sure. Coding is essentially just learning how to communicate with an entity that only understands the most basic commands. Perhaps it isn't analagous to learning a language so much as it is learning to communicate differently.

I used to think some people just couldn't understand coding, but the more I think about it the more I feel they just aren't compelled to do it, not that it's impossible for them. If you look at the things you learn from coding that aren't necessarily coding, having a populace that in general understood how to code would have a huge impact. Look at how your knowledge of coding carries through the rest of your life and the way you think about things outside of it.

Even bad coding (read: non-performant/messy coding) still teaches you how to break down statements/commands into their atomic parts and better understand everything.

Look at even the insight you can get from Hello World; the simple task of communicating to something that you want it/them to say, "Hello World." To a normal person it seems easy, just ask them/it to say "Hello World." Coding it reveals all the assumptions one might take for granted. It's almost philosophical in a lot of ways:

-How do I know I am supposed to do something at all?

-How do I know you are giving me data?

-How do I actually get that data?

-How do I store that data until I do something with it?

-How do I know what you want me to do with that data?

-How do I know when to stop doing things with that data?

These are all things that have to be pretty explicit in code, but someone takes totally for granted because we typically communicate with intelligent things.

With the car analogy, It's really helpful for your driving if you have at least a basic knowledge of how a car works, and some basic physics.
Same thing with computers, the most versatile tool ever invented, that everyone uses.

Not really. If you have to know how a product works internally to be able to successfully operate it, then there has been a failure in product design and it will not be successful to the mass market. Consumer products need to be black boxes for the vast majority of people using them. None of the non-programmers I know would benefit in any way from knowing the basics of how to write code as far as general computer use goes.

I agree that every student in the US should be required to take a programming course however. My reasoning it just a little different. If you expose all students to some form of programming, it will click for a certain percentage of them. They will get it, and enjoy feeding the computer instructions. Those kids will then be more likely to consider a computer science or engineering education further which we desperately need in this country.