I think the title is somewhat misleading, maybe "What We Teach at Hacker School" would be more democratically accurate. This is a list of acquired skills, i.e.

I think the title is somewhat misleading, maybe "What We Teach at Hacker School" would be more democratically accurate. This is a list of acquired skills, i.e. not fundamental. I think the only fundamental quality of a good programmer is that they really, really enjoy programming. When you have this indeed fundamental quality, becoming good is only a matter of time. I recommend (re)reading "Great Hackers" by pg and (re)watching "Hammock Driven Development" by Rich Hickey.