Too ignorant to use computers (or build bridges)?
In his usual curmudgeonly manner, John Dvorak is scathing about the public’s general level of technological ignorance and blasts our educational system. He points to the fact that a lot of people are using computers who have no clue what they are doing. Unfortunately, he is all too correct when he writes:
There’s a huge knowledge gap in this country when it comes to computers and technology in general. I blame the educational system, as well as the big computer companies, which have done nothing to encourage public education about the dangers of the computing environment. How many normal people out there know how hackable everything is? You know it. I know it. Does Aunt Tina know it? I doubt it.
As Dvorak points out, our once-proud educational system is in a shambles:
People know nothing of the dangers inherent in natural gas, static electricity, lightning, or anything else. None of this is taught in school; instead we have diversity studies and self-esteem lectures.
He continues:
It’s only recently that the so-called Darwin Awards emerged, as we’ve accumulated so many dummies in the country that they are literally killing themselves through their own stupidity (often in hilarious ways). The public knows more about Britney Spears than, well, just about anything. Kids know nothing about poisons, skunks, Lyme disease, covering their mouths when coughing, TB, or even ear protection. (Wait until the earbud lawsuits hit Apple 20 years from now. Ever heard of Johns-Manville? Look it up.)
Too many people carry day-to-day obliviousness deep into adulthood and make decisions for others that are frightening. Even within the tech scene, few people actually know much at all. Those of us who were brought into the scene at the beginning of the desktop revolution often assume that other people know more than we do, and then we’re surprised by the general lack of knowledge. Apparently we’re idiots, too, for expecting otherwise.
Dvorak proposes we try to attack the problem of technological ignorance by teaching a one-year technology course to everybody in high school. That may be a good idea in theory but it will never happen. There are any number of obstacles. To begin with, there is the entrenched educational establishment that itself is largely technologically ignorant and that brought on our current sad school system with its anti-intellectual, anti-elitist philosophy. Who among them would even be qualified to teach a technology class? Not only are most of those in the secondary school teaching profession unqualified in this area but, even worse, they do not know that they are unqualified. Also, to really address the problem of general technological ignorance, a course would have to be compulsory. Since requiring any subject is against the mindset of today, that will never work. How are you going to teach technology in a school system that gives high school diplomas to people who can’t read?
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I agree with both you and John C. about the teaching of technology in schools–both the need for it and the unrealistic hope of being able to do it. However, I heartily disagree with John C. that “the dangers inherent in natural gas, static electricity, lightning” or “poisons, skunks, Lyme disease, covering their mouths when coughing, TB, or even ear protection” are appropriate subjects for formal education. They should be taught in the home. Schools should focus solely on academic subjects (the 3Rs, science, history, geography, etc.)