Level 1: Garbage code with no or bad comment.
Level 2: Garbage code with good comments.
Level 3: Good code with comments
Level 4: Code good enough that it doesn't need comments, with rare exceptions.
Each level is better than the previous. You can't level up directly from 1 to 4.
Still, 4 is the best level. I know it sounds weird if you haven't seen it.
1. I did allow for "rare exceptions". Some things do need to be explained outside of the code. Maybe we're not so different after all :)
2. There are a number of techniques to write such code. Before I learned them, I had NO IDEA. One is to take what would have been comments and use them as variable or function names. This includes (and I had real resistance before I accepted this) breaking out a variable of function only in order to give it an informative name. "Level 4" doesn't just happen. You work at it for a long time and sharpen your skills in that area.
3. To me, much of the art of writing software is to find ways to divide a complex problem into simple pieces. If my code is real complex, I look for simpler way to write it. And I look hard.