2010-10-10

Here's a Thought

I am not one to be concerned with the "military superiority" of the USA. A peaceful nation who desires nothing but free trade with other peaceful nations doesn't need to have the strongest military.

But, as faithful readers know, I have a growing concern about the way we view science and technology in this country. It is only a matter of time before we become a nation of pill-popping, fame-obsessed monkeys with no functional numeracy and only passable literacy. Oh, wait... it's already happened.

File this under the same category:


I just published this on Huffington Post. Maybe some policymakers will consider adding programming to the US public school curriculum....
Just last year, while researching a book on America's digital illiteracy, I met with the Air Force General then in charge of America's cybercommand. He said he had plenty of new recruits ready and able to operate drones or other virtual fighting machines - but no one capable of programming them, or even interested in learning how. He wasn't even getting recruits who were ready to begin basic programming classes. Meanwhile, he explained to me, colleges in Russia, China, and even Iran were churning out an order of magnitude more programmers than universities in the US. It is only a matter of time, he said - a generation at most - until our military loses its digital superiority.

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