Your analogy confuses me. It seems that Lisp, and it's tree structure, would fit better with "multiple overlapping layers", and assembly would fit better with "2d layout", since it is so important to visualize the memory model, like a map in your head.
Oh, it wasn't an analogy - the only programming she liked in college was functional languages, and I enjoy assembler - don't program a lot anymore and not so fast at it, but find it more satisfying in a low level context.
I don't get it either. The only reason I can think of is maybe it's more interesting because it's less natural? She claims not to like geometry much either, which just baffles me.
