Dr Nicholas Kardaras says ‘Screens In Schools Are a $60B Hoax‘.
Follow the money and it’s easy to see who the real beneficiaries are of tech saturation. Tech companies like Microsoft, Google and Apple get kids hooked early. Habits develop. They grow up good, platform-loyal, little consumers of their services and products. Smart ones (whose brains aren’t complete zombie mush) might become employees…and keep the whole cycle going.
Even the mantra of ‘we must teach coding’ is self-serving. It favors one industry – out of many that also need engineers, inventors, scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, etc. In fact, I’d argue we’ll need more humanity (not humanities) in the future to offset the cold, empty, esoteric nature of digital work and life.
This isn’t some evil plan. It’s the byproduct of powerful, profit-driven entities that need to grow; to find new markets and customers. They also get to play on our fears of the unknown. So everyone starts thinking, “What if our kids aren’t drenched in tech…? Will they have jobs? A future…??”
Ironically, as more get hooked on gadgets, more and more of software and technology moves deep into the background. AI will do the things we want, not chumps on laptops moving PowerPoint boxes around. As I said in The McFuture Manifesto, “In 50 years, staring at laptops all day will seem as bizarre as driving to a strip mall to rent a movie.”
Technology is powerful, but only as powerful as we let it be. If we don’t make a conscious decisions on how to control addiction and indoctrination, the market will.
– Steve Faktor