When human beings acquired language,
we didn't just learn to listen,
we learned how to speak.
When human beings acquired text,
we learned not just how to read,
but how to write.
and now that we've acquired computers,
we should learn not just how to use them,
but how to program them.
Back in the 1980's
learning to use a computer was the same thing as
learning to program one.
but as computers got easier to use and more user-friendly
the distance between using a computer
and knowing how it works got longer and wider
until we had extremely opaque interfaces
through which you do what the program says
without any idea of what's actually going on behind the screen
Ask any kid what facebook is for
and he'll tell you facebook is here to help me make friends.
no. they're looking to figure out how to monetize people's relationships
if you don't know what the software you're using is for
then you're not using it, but being used by it.
back when I first got on the internet
I saw networking as the next great leap in human evolution
we were moving towards a new networked organism
and I'm amazed at how few of us have actually decided to participate
in this product
in the digital age or in any age for that matter
who ever holds the keys to programming ends up building the reality
in which the rest of us live
thanks to these technologies
we now have the ability to remake our economy, our education
our government
even our religions
if we don't seize the opportunity to remake our world
I promise you someone or something else
will do it for us