The XKCD is a bad example in this case, as it is mostly about domain specific knowledge of computational theory or standardized algorithmic approaches to the pr

The XKCD is a bad example in this case, as it is mostly about domain specific knowledge of computational theory or standardized algorithmic approaches to the problem spaces presented within those domains, whereas "low-level" is something different ... primarily referring to common layers underlying many domains. Most programmers never have to write low-level code. This is a good thing. It doesn't mean they can't, it just means we've moved on from wasting our time re-implementing solutions to problems already adequately solved for a general case. Finally. Manual memory management is frankly insane outside of extreme edge cases today.