Keeping the Flame Alive
This post is in response to a discussion on the "How Things Work" list. We have been worried about the decline of citizens to understand the technologies around them.
I've been thinking about the supposed decline of the functional awareness of the
people I know. I've decided that I can't make any useful comparisons of
skillsets because I select my friends according to certain filters. For example,
I don't associate with smokers or heavy drinkers. We live in a high tech area,
so I know lots of engineers, teachers, writers and people with home workshops.
All my neighbors, without exception, are people who do most of their home
maintenance. They might have a pickup truck, they all have computers with high
speed connections and they follow the news. Many take a good look at the
electronic and metal recycling pile at the dump every weekend and know a lot
about things I have no clue about.
If we are exposed to the possibilities and benefits of technology and have
people around us to support that interest then we will be competent citizens
capable of dealing with the gadgets around us. If we have to deal with
technology alone, then we fall quickly behind. My education has been mostly
self-taught, but that just means that I read lots of magazines and books. But
another strong motivation has been the people around me, including the fine
people on this and other lists. Again, self-selected and selfish, rejecting
people who don't measure up to my standards.
Not much useful here, just random observations from my narrow point of view. I
work with kids by the thousands when we teach water safety in Florida. What
possibilities they have. I wish I could give every one of them subscriptions to
my favorite magazines. I have kids in my digital photography classes. I learn
from them every time. The adults in the class benefit from their fearless
exploration of the editing programs. I feel wonderfully stimulated after each
session when I see those lightbulbs go off in their heads. That must be what its
like to be a real teacher.
I'm optimistic.
I've been thinking about the supposed decline of the functional awareness of the
people I know. I've decided that I can't make any useful comparisons of
skillsets because I select my friends according to certain filters. For example,
I don't associate with smokers or heavy drinkers. We live in a high tech area,
so I know lots of engineers, teachers, writers and people with home workshops.
All my neighbors, without exception, are people who do most of their home
maintenance. They might have a pickup truck, they all have computers with high
speed connections and they follow the news. Many take a good look at the
electronic and metal recycling pile at the dump every weekend and know a lot
about things I have no clue about.
If we are exposed to the possibilities and benefits of technology and have
people around us to support that interest then we will be competent citizens
capable of dealing with the gadgets around us. If we have to deal with
technology alone, then we fall quickly behind. My education has been mostly
self-taught, but that just means that I read lots of magazines and books. But
another strong motivation has been the people around me, including the fine
people on this and other lists. Again, self-selected and selfish, rejecting
people who don't measure up to my standards.
Not much useful here, just random observations from my narrow point of view. I
work with kids by the thousands when we teach water safety in Florida. What
possibilities they have. I wish I could give every one of them subscriptions to
my favorite magazines. I have kids in my digital photography classes. I learn
from them every time. The adults in the class benefit from their fearless
exploration of the editing programs. I feel wonderfully stimulated after each
session when I see those lightbulbs go off in their heads. That must be what its
like to be a real teacher.
I'm optimistic.