I think you're over-simplifying things if you say that not understanding Prolog programs comes down to a "lack of ability for abstract thought". You can think a

I think you're over-simplifying things if you say that not understanding Prolog programs comes down to a "lack of ability for abstract thought". You can think abstractly all you want, that will not help you if you don't know by heart the sometimes arcane rules of setting choice points and binding variables. Those are not things that you can work out on your own, thinking abstractly; those are concrete rules chosen by people over a period of 40 years. The converse is true, of course: A person that cannot write well structured and "nice" code in other languages won't be able to magically do that in Prolog either.