> On the other hand, a toddler who explores the world as if it is a touch screen has been given way too much time on a touch screen. So there is definitely a problem there.
You are making quite an assumption here. People of many centuries ago would also say that we raise our kids in a wrong way, because we don't teach them how to survive in the wild or how to work a potato field.
A computer is a machine of profound alienation from the actual ability to create and the ability to use, unlike anything someone who survives in the wild or farms would do. Many people will die having used computers for 10 hours a day but not being able to really act with computers and create with computers. This is unacceptable.
> A computer is a machine of profound alienation from the actual ability to create and the ability to use
A funny thing to say, given that today a lot of content requires computers to produce, even abstract art.
> Many people will die having used computers for 10 hours a day but not being able to really act with computers and create with computers
How is that different from people who voraciously read countless books, or watch countless movies, yet never produce anything at all, in whatever domain.
Not everybody wants to be a producer. Some people are perfectly happy just consuming, or partying all day.
I've had similar disagreements with people bemoaning VR for being isolating and non-social compared to other interactive media. Nobody decries reading literature for being somehow morally inferior to watching TV in a group.
This probably varies a lot by culture (and sub-culture), but 'bookworm' doesn't really have perjorative connotations for me. I know it was probably originally intended that way, and it can still be used as an insult, but it feels neutral to me.
How many of these literature readers can't write? Not write well, can't write at all.
How many can't take a video? Not take a good video, but take one at all.
But you can use a computer without knowing how to create for it _at all_.
Coding is significantly harder than writing or pressing two buttons on a video camera, which is also visible in salaries - basic journalist vs. basic camera operator vs. basic coder
Well the UK Day rate for a Camera Operator (labour only) is around £420 for TV and £600 for film - which compares quite well for the contractor rates - and you wont fall foul or IR 35.
Journalists your right - there is a lot of young people who have the dream of being the next woodwood and Bernstein - and so news paper publishers take advantage.
> TV cameraman Joel Shippey: 'although a seasoned cameraman can earn between £300 and £400 a day, you'll only be earning the minimum wage for the first few years. I was doing jobs for free when I began'
> "You have to be very sure you want to do it because it involves years of long hours, challenging conditions and low pay."
Countless people can drive a car but have no clue how to change a tire. If they get stuck in the wilderness during a blizzard their life is in serious peril but most people are just "you really don't know how to change a tire?"
And most computer usage is creating tons of valuable information to feed into the googlebrain.
I live in an agrarian area where potato farming is a major industry. It’s a hard life, and not one that I’d encourage my son to get into. I think he’ll be better off with a computer.
When I was a kid growing up on a farm, we'd have semi trucks come by and pick up our produce, and I thought that would be such an easier life than actually producing the crops. I told my grandpa that I wanted to be a truck driver when I grew up, and a few weeks later he drove into town and bought a computer to keep me from being either a farmer or a truck driver. He had been both, and didn't want me to be either.
I might agree with them. I'm not saying we should be all out working potato fields, but knowing how to grow your own food is valuable knowledge. Likewise, knowing how to live in the wild, at least for a few days is a basic skill that I believe everyone should know, as it could save your life even today if something goes wrong while you are out hiking/camping.
You are making quite an assumption here. People of many centuries ago would also say that we raise our kids in a wrong way, because we don't teach them how to survive in the wild or how to work a potato field.
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