Computer Science should be a core subject

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For more information on bringing computer science to schools, please visit code.org
If you would like to learn how to program, here is a great, completely free site. codecademy.com

Released from the Shackles: Media's voice

It was once stated that media controlled the people. The professionals of media would find news to report on. They would report on events they decided, and support the side they believed in. The only way society was able to hear the news, was through this medium, and as such, the media could control the news. With controlled news comes controlled society. It was hard for others to learn anything about the news outside what the media said. Those days are over.

While news is still important and widespread, people reporting the news are no longer professionals. Anyone in the world can share their own voice, and report their own events. Clay Shirky calls this event "Mass Amateurization" in his book Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. He states that amateurs now control "the media" and it threatens the old-fashion-news industry. In my opinion, this is a very good thing. Now people can seek out the opinion and events they choose. As a people we are no longer controlled, but asked to think for ourselves. By creating a more transparent world, we understand each-other better and make things right. We are now allowed to make our own conclusions and have the power to act on our decisions.

The male nurse vs the female engineer

Computer science programs, and other engineering type programs, have struggled catering to women. These programs have always been predominantly filled with males. This will always be the case. While it is noble to convince women to join these programs, nature claims it will never happen. As people have studied gender differences, one thing they have learned is that men have a greater capacity for logic and women have a greater capacity for emotion. Women have an inherit nature to choose more emotional and caring career paths, where men gravitate towards more logical and systematic paths. Just as engineering programs lack in females, programs such as nursing and elementary education  lack in males. Engineering and nursing will always be gender skewed, and there is nothing wrong with that.

The Foreseeable Future

Imagine a fully automated McDonalds. You drive up, hit a couple buttons for your order, and your food gets put together by machines. A McDonalds without employees. This could be in our forseeable future. Already, software and technology has started to replace many jobs. Google is even building a fully automated car. Hop in, select your destination, and enjoy the ride. When these cars become popular, we can say goodbye to taxi drivers and chauffeurs. One could argue that technology is destroying jobs. I would argue that technology is simply recycling jobs. Look at the technology job market and you will realize there are thousands of jobs that go unfilled. When agricultural advances came, such as tractors and sprinkler systems, many farm hands found themselves jobless. Most of the population used to work on a farm. As a civilization, we changed, and created more jobs. We can do the same thing. I'm excited to see what new markets and industries come to existence in our future.