Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!convex!killer!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!hplabs!hpda!hptsug2!taylor
From: paigen@pixar.UUCP (David Paigen)
Newsgroups: comp.society
Subject: Re: Computer Literacy: The Pigeonhole Principle
Message-ID: <546@hptsug2.HP.COM>
Date: 26 Sep 88 22:22:51 GMT
Sender: taylor@hptsug2.HP.COM
Lines: 33
Approved: taylor@hplabs

I have three main responses to the article:

1)  I would make an analogy between "computer literacy" and
    auto mechanics.  Not everyone in this society knows
    how to fix a car, yet we all know better than to trust
    a mechanic. :-)  Eventually, people will learn what they need
    to know about computers just by living in the society, and
    make use of programmers and engineers when needed.

2)  I think there are, and will be, many similarities between
    the "industrial revolution" and the "information revolution".
    In just a few generations, people will have at their
    fingertips (literally) more information by orders of
    magnitude than we are able to find today in any libraries.
    However, this will come at a cost.  Today we all have dining
    room tables, most of which are poorly made.  The information
    of 50 years from now will probably be copious, but will have
    little relation to reality.

3)  The application of "scientific management" to programming
    (e.g. top down programming) will not take away the creativity
    and flair of programming.  This is like saying that the
    scientific method takes the creativity and intuition out
    of science.

    Besides, both of my parents are research biologists, so I
    grew up in a scientific community.  The last person I spoke
    with who claimed to adhere strictly to the scientific
    method was my seventh grade homeroom teacher.

Well, there you have it.

David Paigen