I'm guessing that some people thought "if everybody can read and write, then we'll all become educated and be able to write great novels". Unsurprisingly, that

I'm guessing that some people thought "if everybody can read and write, then we'll all become educated and be able to write great novels". Unsurprisingly, that didn't happen, but other huge benefits were accrued.... So I totally agree with you that "everybody should learn to program" sounds very similar to "everybody can write a novel". It's wrong. But "everybody should be computer literate" is a very worthwhile cause. This is perhaps the most insightful comment I've encountered about computer literacy (and, maybe, literacy in general). Thank you for posting it and enlightening me a bit.