It does tend to suggest, though, that only a certain kind of person (empathetic, sympathetic, human) will ever become an export Cocoa developer. Maybe that's the point.

I think 'empathy' is a critical quality of a good UI designer. "The ability to understand and share the feelings of others", and in this case, I would make it more general "The ability to understand and share the feelings and mind processes of others". A good teacher would likely be a good UI designer.