Oh, there is nothing like the smell of Luddites in the morning!(people against change mixed with fear and mixed with "those were the times...").
So I assume this person really knows how the clothes she wears are made. Of course if she wears socks or a sweater she will know knitting, or at least how to manage a sewing machine(everybody should know just the basics).
Of course she will also know how her car works and repair it when needed, if she had ever flied she will know how to pilot a plane.
Look at mee!!, I AM A GEEK! I know how to do all of the above so everybody should!!
Now you also need qualities that are not geek nature. It seems like we have to be everything, from playing good the piano and being a good lover to being the funniest at the parties and work in your job like a machine, while we are the best parents to our children and the best givers to the community.
I'm a little surprised to see the label of luddism applied to an argument that we should be encouraging more people to learn to program computers.
I can understand what you're saying here, but I'm not making an argument for the "good old days" of command line interfaces and arcane commands. What I'm arguing for is what you expressed in this comment:
"Of course if she wears socks or a sweater she will know knitting, or at least how to manage a sewing machine (everybody should know just the basics)."
I don't know how to knit but my wife does, and I can sew well enough to make a Hallowe'en costume, fix a button or hem a pair of pants.
All the time I see people manually, painstakingly processing data as a necessary part of their jobs - repetitive, time-consuming stuff that could easily be automated with a fairly simple script. If we made basic computer programming, like basic literacy and math, a part of core education curricula, we would empower many more people to write amateur code that's good enough for the task at hand, just as most amateur writing is good enough to communicate meaning without being slick and professional.
I'm not saying everyone should work as a software developer, any more than I'm saying everyone should work as a writer. However, the general ability to read and write is absolutely invaluable no matter the career, to the extent that people who are functionally illiterate are barely employable and can scarcely function in our society.
Similarly, I believe a general ability to write computer programs - to express a set of steps that execute some data processing task - can become invaluable as well and unlock a huge boost in general productivity.
>All the time I see people manually, painstakingly processing data as a necessary part of their jobs - repetitive, time-consuming stuff that could easily be automated with a fairly simple script. If we made basic computer programming, like basic literacy and math, a part of core education curricula, we would empower many more people to write amateur code that's good enough for the task at hand, just as most amateur writing is good enough to communicate meaning without being slick and professional.
I think that more important is the ability to at least be capable of identifying repetitive work and asking someone more skilled in programming to implement it. It's amazing what kind of basic things people miss when you're asking them about what could be automated. Sometimes, you need to sit next to them and watch them work just to identify the problem.
Agree, and to say more : the few great or successful people I met were all taking very seriously their control over new technologies. I was surprised by an old lawyer, he was knowing and even using almost all corners of his email client. Take control over your tools or they will control you.
So I assume this person really knows how the clothes she wears are made. Of course if she wears socks or a sweater she will know knitting, or at least how to manage a sewing machine(everybody should know just the basics).
Of course she will also know how her car works and repair it when needed, if she had ever flied she will know how to pilot a plane.
Look at mee!!, I AM A GEEK! I know how to do all of the above so everybody should!!
Now you also need qualities that are not geek nature. It seems like we have to be everything, from playing good the piano and being a good lover to being the funniest at the parties and work in your job like a machine, while we are the best parents to our children and the best givers to the community.