Well, programming and mathematics are really two sides of the same coin. But I agree that this breakdown will likely apply to many other professions. The reaso

Well, programming and mathematics are really two sides of the same coin. But I agree that this breakdown will likely apply to many other professions. The reason being that mathematics is in essence the art of working with rules (in an abstract sense). Since almost any professions requires you to work with some rules (some very concrete, others more subjective) learning that part will resemble learning mathematics. Unfortunately you're very unlikely to encounter this part of mathematics if you don't go beyond high school level. I think some people want to introduce it through programming, but I'm not sure if that'll be any more effective.