digital shop class

I do not necessarily know what they teach high schoolers in computer class these days, but I strongly suspect it has not fundamentally changed much from what it was 30 years ago. My HS computer requirement was, broadly, about using a computer operating system. Files, folders, typing, word processing — how to use the computer itself as a tool. The WWW existed, I seem to recall us having a bit on the web and links. I’m actually curious if anyone knows what they teach kids these days. I’d be surprised if it was that different?

My take is that we don’t go far enough. Every student should be able to graduate high school with basic Linux sysadmin and networking skills. This is not a joke, or a bit. Computers are tools, and it’s good that we teach people how to use them, but the internet (and networked applications) are pretty much the driver or facilitator of, like, most productive economy activity on some level. So, yeah, I think we should probably teach the kids how to use a shell and set up iptables.

I tend to believe that a big part of why people are so miserable online is that most people are underequipped to think about online as anything other than a 24/7 digital tv that they passively consume. given the interaction stats for most social media, this is probably true. It does not help me sleep better at night to know that I am in some 0.01% of humans who write more online than I read, and if you stripped out people who just engage via proxy (like/rt/share semantics) it’s probably much worse. This is probably an indication of some deep brain sickness. But if this is how you see social media, or the internet, or your phone, then yeah you’re gonna have a real bad fuckin time when suddenly circumstances require you to take some ownership over your digital footprint.

I think this post summarizes what I’m trying to say better than I can:

Anyway. I also think that the post office should give everyone an email account.