Computer Literacy and the Presidency

[The Lady of Shadows]

so my husband sent me this article today about john mccain and computers. and his lack of knowledge of them. i don't just mean his lack of knowledge about how they operate, i mean the fact that you can order things online and, you know, read email.

and let's not get into the age issue either. i have friends in their 50s and 60s who practically live on the computer. they pay their bills online, shop online, send e-newsletters to their families every year, have set up photo sharing sites to send e-photoalbums to distant relatives, etc. so it's definitely not an age issue.

so what i want to know is this. how important do you think it is that your president is computer literate. i don't mean that he has specialized knowledge, but that he has a basic understanding. like, say, knowing what they can do in the simplest of terms and that the can get his own email, use the web, etc.

and in honor of this being feev's special week, i'm having five options!

[jayson]

Interesting question turtlesong. I don't think it's particularly important as far as the actual performance of the job goes. However, I do think it is illustrative of how out of touch with modernity someone can be. It would seem to me to be advantageous for a U.S. Senator to be computer literate and yet McCain (and I'm sure many others) have not availed themselves of this knowledge.

Then again, if the current President doesn't have to meet any definition of literate...

[The Lady of Shadows]

<snip>

Then again, if the current President doesn't have to meet any definition of literate...

:rofl:

i try not to think about him. i'm pretending it's all a very bad dream. but then i think "whatever will jon stewart talk about after january 2009?" and i get sad.

[Ves'Ka Gan]

I think that the president should be computer literate because so much of our current way of life involves the internet. A president who is NOT using what hte majority of Americans ARE using is less likely to make decisions about the technology that make sense.

On the filp side, I think the president has more pressing issues to deal with than going through his spam folder.

[LadyHitchhiker]

LOL
I think someone will probably read all his emails before he gets them anyways because of national security but I still think the president should be able to use the computer or the internet.

Computers are now, but being a leader is better, but in order to be a leader of now, I would think she/he needs to be a little bit up to date...

[LadyHitchhiker]

LOL
I think someone will probably read all his emails before he gets them anyways because of national security but I still think the president should be able to use the computer or the internet.

Computers are now, but being a leader is better, but in order to be a leader of now, I would think she/he needs to be a little bit up to date...

[razz]

:rofl:

i try not to think about him. i'm pretending it's all a very bad dream. but then i think "whatever will jon stewart talk about after january 2009?" and i get sad.

so what, your gonna act like germany does towards the 1940's ?
EVERYONE WENT ON VACATION! SHUT UP!

[LadyHitchhiker]

:wtf: You just made my day that was so funny!

[B Rag]

So, does he literally not know what email is? (Or, didn't until recently?)
That is kind of a problem. It sounds like he really has no idea what's going on around him. That would be like one of the early Presidents not knowing what mail was. It's just a major part of civilization.

I'm not sure how to vote on this, though. I think it's important that he at least knows what the basic uses of the internet are. I don't think he needs to know how to use a computer, as long as he has someone who can do it for him, but it's always better to know more. So which choice does that fit into?

[Ves'Ka Gan]

I disagree. I would not want to give someone the power to make decisions for me if they did not have the experience to make those decisions. Having advisors is not enough. He doesn't have the base information to know what advisors are qualified, and further, if he does not understand the importance of the internet and technology in everyday life, that sets us up for legislation and decisions that could really hurt the average American.

[B Rag]

That's sort of what I meant; He needs to know about all the uses and capabilities of the internet, and how important it is, but I don't mind if he can't figure out how to turn one on.

[The Lady of Shadows]

http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/06/important-for-president-to-be-computer-literate/

here, read this article.

[Ves'Ka Gan]

I don't think it is possible to have a strong, educated opinion on issues like net nuetrality if you are not using the internet yourself.

[B Rag]

I don't know if I believe that; it might not be as strong or educated of an opinion as someone who has experience with it, but they could have a valid opinion as long as they understand it.

[Ves'Ka Gan]

Then I go back to my previous point, How will he know which advisors are really educated on the issues and which are not, if prior to choosing said advisors he has no understanding of the issue?

[B Rag]

That's easy... advisor-picking advisors! :P

Actually, I'm not sure. I guess it really depends on the level of his knowledge.

[Jon]

I think all people should have some dehree of computer skills. But this alone should not eliminate some one from office. Most skills can be taught and learned fairly quickly.

[Jean]

yes... but if someone has lived so long and occupied responsible positions, and had ample opportunities for learning, and all new technologies within his reach, but didn't express interest in such an important means of communication/organization/information technique as computer, what does it say of his level of understanding the world around him, or his wish to understand the said world?

[Brice]

I really don't think it matters one way or the other; whether he is proficient with computers or doesn't even know they exist.

Anyhow, I chose the last option because it amused me most.

[CPU]

I don't think it is possible to have a strong, educated opinion on issues like net nuetrality if you are not using the internet yourself.

I don't think you're wrong, but to me it doesn't matter if the President knows much about it. The President doesn't set policy, or pass laws - the legislative branch does they're the ones that need to be educated in my opinion.

Also I really don't want to worry that the Pres is spending his day surfing the net and commenting on message boards like I do instead of working :lol:

[The Lady of Shadows]

I don't think it is possible to have a strong, educated opinion on issues like net nuetrality if you are not using the internet yourself.

I don't think you're wrong, but to me it doesn't matter if the President knows much about it. The President doesn't set policy, or pass laws - the legislative branch does they're the ones that need to be educated in my opinion.

Also I really don't want to worry that the Pres is spending his day surfing the net and commenting on message boards like I do instead of working :lol:

oh please. you think gwb is actually working??????? :P

[Letti]

I really don't think it matters one way or the other; whether he is proficient with computers or doesn't even know they exist.

Anyhow, I chose the last option because it amused me most.

I was wondering who it was... :lol:

[stone, rose, unfound door]

:rofl:

i try not to think about him. i'm pretending it's all a very bad dream. but then i think "whatever will jon stewart talk about after january 2009?" and i get sad.

so what, your gonna act like germany does towards the 1940's ?
EVERYONE WENT ON VACATION! SHUT UP!

Actually they don't and what happens really is that a lot of people in the 20's in Germany nowadays still feel somewhat involved. I met a German girl a few years ago and she said that they learnt foreign languages and spoke them well because they still felt responsible to what happened during WW2. I didn't quite get the logic, but I thought it must weigh quite a lot on them. The French government, though, is not yet ready to accept the fact that France was an ally of Germany until De Gaulle sent his call on June, 18, 1940. Until that happened and people who were resisting the Nazi government that had taken the whole north of France down to Vichy finally got together and fought, Pétain had completely agreed to Hitler's plan and even was zealous about it so he made lots of posters and asked people to send all the Jews they knew to Nazi camps. You will never find this in a French history textbook, especially since Sarkozy became President, which is a shame.

[Jean]

You will never find this in a French history textbook
how can that be???? it's history, and I thought it was, you know, common knowledge? How can it be just hushed up? After all, there are books, documents, memoirs, all that?

[stone, rose, unfound door]

You will never find this in a French history textbook
how can that be???? it's history, and I thought it was, you know, common knowledge? How can it be just hushed up? After all, there are books, documents, memoirs, all that?

I read that there used to be a school that said that History is not so much about what's true and what's not but about messages. I think this is the most common vision the education ministery in France has of history. Hopefully, a lot of teachers thinking it is all our government's stupid idea of what history is about, we still get to learn facts. But we're taught as children that France is the country of law and liberty: after all, we were the ones who wrote the Declaration of Human Rights (or whatever its name in English) back in 1789, weren't we? So I think that our politicians (right-wing ones especially) want us to feel some kind of patriotism, or at least be proud of our nation when clearly they're not saying the truth in textbooks that are the same for most of the country.
These textbooks were also changed a few years ago so colonisation is no more a bad thing and provided lots of progress to the countries that did not get to choose to become French.
I guess people wouldn't be so proud to know that the northern half of France used to be German between 1939 and 1940, that there is no such thing as a French nation and that colonisation did not only have good points to it. De Gaulle wouldn't represent democracy and Presidential success so much if people tried to get to know their own history more. Youthink this is common knowledge? I thought so too until someone in my own class told the teacher she was completely wrong about Pétain and that he hadn't done anything wrong. I was 16 back then, and at least she knew French history, which is not the case of most French highschool students thse days :(
Anyway, I asked a Japanese friend who told me their problem is even worse: their textbooks are all politically oriented so the left-wing books tell about the Japanese participation in WW2 and their alliance to nazi Germany, but the right-wing ones state that no such thing happened and that the Emperor is always right and is still linked to the goddess Amaterasu that is thought to have created Japan. (this reminds me of Louis XIV "Le Roi Soleil"'s period, doesn't it?) The emperor is not linked to this goddess ever since McArthur provided Japan with a constitution in 1951 without asking the people in Japan what they thought was good for them. After the end of WW2, Japan had to accept for its Emperor not to be linked to the Sun anymore (this really was part of what the US demanded!) but they still say it in their books in school!
After all, I think no country really tells its History the way it happened because people would not look up to their heroes the way they do now (for example, there are still people who think Napoléon was our best leader or some others who adore Louis XIV...)

[stone, rose, unfound door]

back to topic now I guess!