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> We should teach programming because... We you know? It really isn't quite as urgent. Well, if you only focus on job preparation, maybe. But education is not

by rwl 16y ago

> We should teach programming because... We you know? It really isn't quite as urgent. Well, if you only focus on job preparation, maybe. But education is not just supposed to prepare people for work; it's supposed to prepare them to be good citizens. That requires teaching students a whole variety of skills, but it particularly requires teaching them analytic modes of thought. Learning how to program means learning how to think in new ways. Generally speaking, those modes of thought are not taught in other educational disciplines: e.g., solving problems via recursion or iteration, and algorithmic thinking generally. So CS education fills a niche that, in large part, would otherwise go unfilled. Coupled with its more "practical" economic benefits, offering it seems like a no brainer to me.

kiba 16y ago
Well, if you only focus on job preparation, maybe. But education is not just supposed to prepare people for work; it's supposed to prepare them to be good citizens. That requires teaching students a whole variety of skills, but it particularly requires teaching them analytic modes of thought. Being a good "citizen" is a full time job, and a job which pretty much everyone fail at. Everybody need to specialize or find themselves a niche within the economy and get good at what they do so they don't get out-competed. "Citizenship" knowledge just get swept by the wayside. I don't much about foreign policies, domestic issues, drugs, nor do I have time to learn the shenanigan of elected officials, etc. I know computer programming. I also know attempts by self-interested people who try to get a piece of the pie at the expense of the public in my domain. Software patents and intellectual property right in general are what I am really informed about. The issue of "governing" should take care of itself much like every other profession take care to solve other people's problem instead of expecting entire people to be wise in governing. Knowledge in our economy's workforce is diffused. Nobody know how to make a pencil, but there are lot of people who knows how to make part of the pencils, or make possible making pencils. Nobody will learn how to make all part of the pencils, because people gain from specialization and division of labor. We shouldn't expect the masses to be reasonably wise and strong enough to guard their interests from harmful special interest. Forget the concept of citizenship duty and rework the system according to the real strength and limitation of the people.
- rwl 16y ago
  Everybody need to specialize or find themselves a niche within the economy and get good at what they do so they don't get out-competed. ... The issue of "governing" should take care of itself much like every other profession take care to solve other people's problem instead of expecting entire people to be wise in governing. ... Forget the concept of citizenship duty and rework the system according to the real strength and limitation of the people. I think this is an incredibly dangerous attitude. Society works when human beings recognize what they have in common; a society in which all social and political organization is based on specialization and individual differences is a society in which people are divided and susceptible to tyranny. I will gladly trade some economic productivity for a citizenship which recognizes its common interests, actively pursues them, and knows how to defend its members against exploitation.

by rwl 16y ago

kiba 16y ago

Well, if you only focus on job preparation, maybe. But education is not just supposed to prepare people for work; it's supposed to prepare them to be good citizens. That requires teaching students a whole variety of skills, but it particularly requires teaching them analytic modes of thought. Being a good "citizen" is a full time job, and a job which pretty much everyone fail at. Everybody need to specialize or find themselves a niche within the economy and get good at what they do so they don't get out-competed. "Citizenship" knowledge just get swept by the wayside. I don't much about foreign policies, domestic issues, drugs, nor do I have time to learn the shenanigan of elected officials, etc. I know computer programming. I also know attempts by self-interested people who try to get a piece of the pie at the expense of the public in my domain. Software patents and intellectual property right in general are what I am really informed about. The issue of "governing" should take care of itself much like every other profession take care to solve other people's problem instead of expecting entire people to be wise in governing. Knowledge in our economy's workforce is diffused. Nobody know how to make a pencil, but there are lot of people who knows how to make part of the pencils, or make possible making pencils. Nobody will learn how to make all part of the pencils, because people gain from specialization and division of labor. We shouldn't expect the masses to be reasonably wise and strong enough to guard their interests from harmful special interest. Forget the concept of citizenship duty and rework the system according to the real strength and limitation of the people.

rwl 16y ago
Everybody need to specialize or find themselves a niche within the economy and get good at what they do so they don't get out-competed. ... The issue of "governing" should take care of itself much like every other profession take care to solve other people's problem instead of expecting entire people to be wise in governing. ... Forget the concept of citizenship duty and rework the system according to the real strength and limitation of the people. I think this is an incredibly dangerous attitude. Society works when human beings recognize what they have in common; a society in which all social and political organization is based on specialization and individual differences is a society in which people are divided and susceptible to tyranny. I will gladly trade some economic productivity for a citizenship which recognizes its common interests, actively pursues them, and knows how to defend its members against exploitation.