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I'm always reading articles about how we need more 'programming' classes in high schools. I think what we really need is more education centered around encrypt

by valine 11y ago

I'm always reading articles about how we need more 'programming' classes in high schools. I think what we really need is more education centered around encryption. We can't expect to have intelligent discussions on the importance of internet privacy if the general public can't understand what's at stake.

drdaeman 11y ago
Not really encryption, but information security. And not [not only] the sort of "don't run photo.jpg.exe you got in email"-type stuff, but a course that encourages understanding of how computers and networks work (in simple terms, sure, no need to discuss all the gory details in-depth), how data flows and what does it mean for everyone who can touch that data. Encryption is an important part of this, and understanding the core concepts is critical, but that's not all that counts. For example, the concepts of trust are equally important.
nitrogen 11y ago
We need more education about the politics, laws, and ethics of engineering in general. Engineers sometimes seem to choose their fields to avoid those issues, but those issues don't avoid them. The only such class I saw offered by the school I attended was taught by a pro-IP paid expert witness, with no obvious coverage of the disadvantages of or alternatives to a traditionally excessive IP regime. Encryption is presented in a similarly one-sided way, and as you say needs more coverage.
chatmasta 11y ago
We need more computer scientists in congress. I expect we'll see a lot more technically competent politicians in the coming decades. Voters like smart people, and those who were once seen as "nerds" can now garner the respect of everyday Americans. People who "know about computers" are seen as smart. A smooth talking, highly technical, successful startup founder will have a good chance of winning a state-level election. Within 20 years, when all these ignorant fossils in congress finally die, hopefully some smart and technically informed people will replace them.
- ethbro 11y ago
  We need more {insert professional specialty} in Congress. Putting lawyers in charge of everything is like using MBAs to directly manage technical projects.
  - Chlorus 11y ago
    Those damn lawyers! It's almost as if Congress' job involves laws, or something!
    - sdjjehjebeb 11y ago
      The only real job for Congress us fund raising, since that's what they do with the plurality of their time. Essentially their job is prostitution.
    - dublinben 11y ago
      Members of Congress don't even write the laws though. They have legislative aides who actually do the writing, when they're not just introducing model legislation written by special interest groups.
  - chatmasta 11y ago
    Lack of expertise among lawmakers was the problem that Federal Agencies were designed to solve. For example, since congress is not filled with MD PhD's, they can't regulate healthcare from any kind of informed perspective. So they delegate lawmaking to the "regulations" produced by the FDA. Perhaps what we need is a federal agency in charge of producing "regulations" for complex computer topics. Presumably that's the mandate of the FCC, or the NIST, but maybe there is room for another, more security focused agency. Of course my personal belief is that regulation is the absolute last thing we need... but I'll take short-lived, sane regulation from a federal agency over long-lived draconian laws from congress.
    - ethbro 11y ago
      The problem is that regulation, whatever your opinions as to its necessity, is going to occur to some extent. There's too much at stake (financially and power wise) for it not to. And Congress absolutely has the ability (if not the requirement) to regulate at a specific level directly through laws. This obviously becomes a problem when there aren't enough engineers in Congress who say "I'm sure that looks nice from a political perspective, but research results / past data / basic physics says otherwise..."

by valine 11y ago

drdaeman 11y ago

Not really encryption, but information security. And not [not only] the sort of "don't run photo.jpg.exe you got in email"-type stuff, but a course that encourages understanding of how computers and networks work (in simple terms, sure, no need to discuss all the gory details in-depth), how data flows and what does it mean for everyone who can touch that data. Encryption is an important part of this, and understanding the core concepts is critical, but that's not all that counts. For example, the concepts of trust are equally important.

nitrogen 11y ago

We need more education about the politics, laws, and ethics of engineering in general. Engineers sometimes seem to choose their fields to avoid those issues, but those issues don't avoid them. The only such class I saw offered by the school I attended was taught by a pro-IP paid expert witness, with no obvious coverage of the disadvantages of or alternatives to a traditionally excessive IP regime. Encryption is presented in a similarly one-sided way, and as you say needs more coverage.

chatmasta 11y ago

We need more computer scientists in congress. I expect we'll see a lot more technically competent politicians in the coming decades. Voters like smart people, and those who were once seen as "nerds" can now garner the respect of everyday Americans. People who "know about computers" are seen as smart. A smooth talking, highly technical, successful startup founder will have a good chance of winning a state-level election. Within 20 years, when all these ignorant fossils in congress finally die, hopefully some smart and technically informed people will replace them.

ethbro 11y ago
We need more {insert professional specialty} in Congress. Putting lawyers in charge of everything is like using MBAs to directly manage technical projects.
- Chlorus 11y ago
  Those damn lawyers! It's almost as if Congress' job involves laws, or something!
  - sdjjehjebeb 11y ago
    The only real job for Congress us fund raising, since that's what they do with the plurality of their time. Essentially their job is prostitution.
  - dublinben 11y ago
    Members of Congress don't even write the laws though. They have legislative aides who actually do the writing, when they're not just introducing model legislation written by special interest groups.
- chatmasta 11y ago
  Lack of expertise among lawmakers was the problem that Federal Agencies were designed to solve. For example, since congress is not filled with MD PhD's, they can't regulate healthcare from any kind of informed perspective. So they delegate lawmaking to the "regulations" produced by the FDA. Perhaps what we need is a federal agency in charge of producing "regulations" for complex computer topics. Presumably that's the mandate of the FCC, or the NIST, but maybe there is room for another, more security focused agency. Of course my personal belief is that regulation is the absolute last thing we need... but I'll take short-lived, sane regulation from a federal agency over long-lived draconian laws from congress.
  - ethbro 11y ago
    The problem is that regulation, whatever your opinions as to its necessity, is going to occur to some extent. There's too much at stake (financially and power wise) for it not to. And Congress absolutely has the ability (if not the requirement) to regulate at a specific level directly through laws. This obviously becomes a problem when there aren't enough engineers in Congress who say "I'm sure that looks nice from a political perspective, but research results / past data / basic physics says otherwise..."