Clearly, you haven't met many coders

Those many coders you are referring to don't get existential satisfaction out of programming. Programming is just like any other creative medium in that respect. Anyone can learn to write, and some can even make a career writing professionally, but a lot fewer spend their free time writing for fun. The more lucrative a career in an art can be, the more people there will be who have no interest in it beyond a way of making money.

Programming doesn't require any peculiarly high intelligence; it requires proper education and dedication. Intelligence can substitute for formal education by allowing someone to teach themselves, but it's not a technical requirement. However, access to education is still a type of privilege not everyone has.