Friday’s Big Idea
Today's Big Idea: Humanizing Technology
Humans have a nasty tendency to get hung up on either/or binaries. Yet most of our greatest advances have been the result of interdisciplinary thinking – or at least of using both halves of our brain.
As technology comes to dominate the cultural landscape (a smartphone in every hand, an e-reader in every purse...), the STEM movement in education – for more Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics in the curriculum – has been gaining momentum. America in particular is paranoid about being left behind if it doesn't beef up these core aspects of the curriculum.
Yet simultaneously some of our greatest thinkers argue that creative, interdisciplinary thinking is essential if we are to improve our lives and solve our most difficult problems. John Maeda's STEM to STEAM initiative is one example of this line of thinking. Jad Abumrad's Radiolab is another. With technology rapidly reshaping culture worldwide, we need to be especially wary of our historical tendency to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
