Are most programmers self trained now? I can see if someone self trains for fe or even full stack with an eye on compensation, they wouldn't understand program counters and the like. But so many people seem motivated by video games to get into the industry that I'd expect them to be reading about things like the fast inverse square root or similar.
A lot of game dev now happens in high-level engines, often with their own extra layer of scripting engine. Even working on the nitty-gritty of spatial logic rather than using engine-based colliders/detection would be pretty rare.
I think it's just that you don't need to be intimate with lower level details to deliver more value at higher levels like game and application dev.
If your day to day involves "intimate knowledge with the CPU" and bumping program counters, I can rule out a lot of things that you probably aren't building, like a compelling iOS app or forum HTTP server, for example.
Maybe you're doing impressive work on emulators or something though. But it's nothing to get pompous about just because other people don't share that interest.
