In an Observer article Will Hutton argues that for many people the idea of a continuous contribution to society is no longer tenable, given that new skills are required so frequently. I've sent him my response, you can read it below:
I read your column entitled “You’re 35 and experienced. Let’s face it, you’re useless” with a mounting sensation of panic. After all, I teach Computer Science students and should be preparing them for this scary new world of which you were writing. I’ve not read the book by Sennett (I will now) but I think that although he is definitely barking up a tree, it might not be quite the right one.
We teach our students to prepare for a world where continuous professional development is the norm. Where they must actively work at keeping their skill sets up to date as part of their commitment to doing their job properly. I tell our first year students that at any time they should have an up to date technical book “on the go” so that they can keep themselves sharp (I also say that they should have a non-technical one on the go as well, so that they acquire a slightly broader outlook than engineers are expected to have). If they are working in a place where professional development is not taken seriously they must push for this and vote with their feet if it is not forthcoming. However, and this is a fundamental point, the things that I actually teach them – as in how to use a computer to solve problems – have not intrinsically changed over the 25 or so years I’ve been doing it. Of course the tools have got better, the problems have got larger and the hardware and connectivity have changed beyond imagining. But the fundamental tasks of finding out what is required to be done, creating an algorithm which performs the process and then deploying this in a useful manner to other people have not changed and probably never will. Yes, they will have to regularly turn their back on tools and technologies, just like I no longer use punched cards and paper tape, but the accomplishment, knowledge and craft they acquire delivering solutions will go with them from one medium to the next. I am proud of some of the programs I wrote on punched cards, that pride has not been lessened by the fact that I can now do much more with my code.
Your comments about people losing their way and not being able to place themselves in society are interesting, placed as they are in the paper alongside an article describing how modern technology has enabled such things as blogging, which provide a level of expression and social connectivity which is very exciting (“Focus: The Digital Revolution”).
Our students use all this stuff as an extension to their lives. I tell the students that blogging is a great way of staking out something which is yours, where you can record all your triumphs (and disasters too if you are brave enough). It provides you with a kind of heritage which you can make visible on a selective basis to those you wish to impress (either personally or professionally) and I think that this has the potential to provide a new way in which they can acquire a thread of continuity. Perhaps in the longer term these kinds of communities, able as they are to support a huge range of minority interests from all over the globe, will take up some of the slack left by the collapse of the long term career. I am certain that these technologies will filter down and become part of the way that society works, just as everyone now has a mobile phone.
So, after having read your article and having thought about it for a while I’ve decided that we are probably doing right by our students, and there is nothing particularly wrong with the message that we are giving them. I agree with your concerns but, having seen our First Year Students and what they can do, I’ve stopped panicking. Even though I am much, much, older than 35….
Best wishes
Rob Miles
Computer Science Lecturer
University of Hull
www.robmiles.com