I think non-programmers have this vision of The Matrix, Swordfish and all non realistic vision of programming. Swarms of text floating down the screen, whilst you're supposed to be pounding the keyboard and writing lots of numbers and equations.

Whilst it's true, we do look at a block of text, it's not always moving and boring. There is a lot of testing and visual feedback for us. Perhaps they get overwhelmed by the Terminal because they think "Oh god, The Matrix. My eyes." but it's not always like that.