Hacker Envy

Yeah, if you already have knowledge of a higher level programming language, it's easier to transition to the lower level stuff.  But if you haven't done any programming before, I'm sure it's faster to just dive right in.  There's also a large amount of code to work with here.

I agree partially on this. I knew OOP and C# when I started ASM and I still had trouble with a lot of concepts like special registers, flags uses, DMA, jumps, etc.. ASM is also 100% sequential. Now there are some concepts that are similar, but it's not like going from C to Java (or Java to C) and always be in known waters. Non-programmers can be excellent ASM coders and would probably struggle as much going into high level languages than me going from C# to 65816.

I'll be able to claim something similar in my next semester ASM course where the simulator has an accumulator, one register (similar to Y or X) and 3 flags. You know you won't struggle when you talk about a class you haven't taken yet with someone taking it and you know at least as much as what the guy is talking about.