I definitely think that C2 helps train your brain to think logically. I can't code, sadly - I've tried to learn, but a combination of mind-numbing tutorials that don't show you how to do anything useful, and a mind that bends more towards artistic creation has meant that I've failed miserably each time. However, I do get the idea behind coding, and using e-learning creation software has helped mould my brainwaves to use variables and conditions more constructively.
With that in mind, coming to C2 a few weeks ago was a revelation. I could build things with logical statements, without having to understand a stupid (to my mind) syntax. And what's even better, I could make things that were fun instead of a 'Hello World', or a function that multiplied two numbers or listed a bunch of different types of fruit stored in an array. And you know what? The best things come when there's something that I don't immediately get. If I have a problem and have to solve it, I think more creatively. For instance, I was trying to think how I could make a sprite that rotated around a pivot in the centre of the screen. For about ten minutes I was stumped, looking at setting angle to self.Angle+1 and similar things, before it occurred to me that all I had to do was pin the sprite to an invisible sprite in the middle of the screen and rotate the latter on keypress instead. Hey presto - it did exactly what I wanted it to, and I was delighted that I'd worked it out.
It's almost like a game in itself. Without hyperbole, I think it's the most fantastic and usable piece of software I own, and the possibilities are limited only by your imagination. This should be in every single school. Imagine what the next generation of creative minds could come up with using it.
Anyway, that's my long and rambling take on it. I see it as coding without having to use the language of code, but not as dumbed down as something like Scratch. I have no qualms about using C2's building blocks - I don't program synth sounds from scratch every time, and I'm happy to use filters and effects in Illustrator or Photoshop, so I don't really see a difference there.