that's exactly my point - emacs doesn't put emphasis on the UI at all as you point out. If you can be bothered to learn its, as you put it, arcane ways then it's tremendously powerful tool.
Anybody's mom need not has to be as proficient or even use Emacs as much you or I need to be proficient playing a violin or a piano.
This also means musical instruments have to be designed to be optimal for musicians who play them regularly not for general amateurs like us who play them once in a while.
Same for a code editor. They need to be optimized for programmers not general masses.
But my mom wouldn't stand a chance.