"If someone tells you “coding is the new literacy” because “computers are everywhere today,” ask them how fuel injection works. By teaching low-level coding, I worry that we are effectively teaching our children the art of automobile repair."
I think this article misses the point that "fuel injection" and other vocational skills are nowhere near as prolific and impactful as code on daily life.
Every single person at my office regularly run into problems where they could save a bunch of time if they felt comfortable with automating things by writing a short script or two. The same is not true for electric wiring.
We shouldn't encourage everybody to become programmers, just like we shouldn't encourage everybody to become authors. We should encourage everybody to learn how to program, just like we encourage everybody to learn how to write well.
I think this article misses the point that "fuel injection" and other vocational skills are nowhere near as prolific and impactful as code on daily life.