A new illiteracy
A new type of illiteracy seems to be emerging as an
unintended side-effect of technological progress. Many people have some
competence using one or more electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets,
and computers. Few people are familiar with all of the features and
capabilities of their device(s). Very few people actually understand the
software and hardware required to make those features, much less have the
knowledge to modify or to create a new feature or capability for their device.
This new illiteracy especially strikes me because I remember
how easily I learned to program in Basic and Fortran as a largely self-taught
high school student using a computer at a local college. After mastering those
two languages, I learned that particular computer’s machine, which required
mastery not only of software but also the design of the computer’s hardware.
Neither the high school nor the college then offered courses in programming.
Nevertheless, the college did require students in some courses to program and to
use its computer, expecting its students to learn those skills on their own
time. Today, fifty years later, both the high school and college offer computer
programming classes as electives, a reflection of the growing complexity of
software and hardware.
A few software designers and creators are still largely self-taught.
Most, however, acquire their skills though formal education and training programs.
Hardware design has advanced to the point where only the well-funded and well-educated
have the resources and knowledge to innovate.
The rest of us are electronic illiterates. What are the potential
consequences of this new illiteracy?
First, the new illiteracy results in a new elite. The trend toward
greater utilization of and reliance upon electronic devices seems likely to persist
for years. Will this new elite continue to earn disproportionate incomes and power
(think of pay in Silicon Valley and the influence of tech billionaires and venture
capitalists)? If so, what will be the consequences of this for the rest of humanity?
Second, will the new illiteracy coupled with the potential ability
of machines to program and then to design themselves (a new form of self-propagation?)
tip evolution away from humans towards a new, non-animal entity (calling it a life
form feels wrong)? If so, will that trigger the extinction of humans or human enslavement
to serve the needs of their electronic masters?
Third, where is God in all of this?
Fourth, is this future inevitable? Alternatively, will a new
electronic literacy emerge that mostly eradicates the new illiteracy?
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