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by derleth
5436 days ago
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Education isn't about making people average. It's about trying to elevate them a bit above. I wouldn't be averse to adding auto shop in (except for the practical matter that modern cars aren't as friendly to shade-tree mechanics as cars of decades ago) but I still think computer programming is more important. It's more important because, frankly, being able to use a computer really well means you can do things the companies in charge don't want you doing. Disabling DRM, making backups of the software you own, blocking virus-laden ads, and so on, all the things I won't put up with being unable to do but the average person just kind of suffers with, like a cow in a thunderstorm unable to find shelter. |
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I wish this were so, but if you look at most education systems, they seem to be designed with a goal of ubiquitous mediocrity. There's a lot of focus on bringing everybody up to minimal standards of not totally sucking, but anybody who isn't in the bottom 1/3 of the class is usually neglected.
At least, that's the way I remember it, and the way politicians usually talk about it. Remember "No Child Left Behind," where the goals were all based on improving education for the worst-performing students?
(It wasn't all bad. I got so bored that I learned a lot of computer stuff, which turned out to be a spectacularly good use of my time.)