[walid]

Trust me, I don't cook competently, but I live alone and can get food done when needed. We don't all have to be professionals at something but we need to understand it especially when our lives depend on it. Take medicine for example, I'm also not a doctor but that didn't stop my school from forcing me to learn biology (which I loved btw) and I think we should all know things about the world when we deal with them on a daily basis. I also didn't major in electronics but I still know better than showering and cleaning the innards on the hair dryer with water while it is plugged in.

It is the mentality of imperative knowledge that should be considered when talking about teaching programming. Not the idea that all people should know how to compile Linux.

[mathattack]

You caught my spirit perfectly. A little biology knowledge can help interacting with a doctor. It's silly to assume people should know how to compile their operating system, but an appreciation and understanding for how data is aggregated and manipulated is useful.