What shall I teach my son?
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
A soon-to-be father rethinks education's purpose as AGI threatens the value of programming skills.
Steve Krouse, a programmer expecting his first child, questions what to teach his son when AI may devalue his own economically valuable skillset. Drawing on Neil Postman's "The End of Education," he argues that schools survive because their purposes shift (e.g., becoming a good person, earning a living), and that the ability to earn a living has been a central but now wobbling leg of education's table. Postman proposes new purposes like Spaceship Earth and The American Experiment. Krouse suggests inviting children to help craft their education's purpose.
What commenters are saying
Multiple commenters correct the author's myths about Bill Gates and Einstein: Gates had excellent grades and wealthy connections; Einstein was top in science and math. Two camps emerge on education's purpose: one emphasizes resourcefulness, curiosity, and skepticism over rote facts, while another argues schools primarily teach test-taking and obedience, not genuine understanding. Several express nostalgia for pre-9/11 "citizen of the world" ideals, now seen as quaint. One thread notes that the most successful people often violate stated educational goals of being good citizens.