I learned BASIC, then Pascal, then C. I had a terrible time understanding pointers, until one day it clicked, and ever since that point I have a terrible time understanding how anyone could not understand pointers.

I don't think having difficulty understanding pointers is anything new. I was struggling with them in the early 90s, and there was plenty of literature out there talking about how to understand them and how people had trouble with them. But I can't help you understand why people have trouble, because I don't know myself.