All the answers at hand – no need to understand


In a world where technology is ubiquitous, our students will change jobs many times as industries transform themselves every few years. By George Manthey


B


ack in the olden days (before I had a cell phone) I had the opportunity to spend a beautiful spring day alone, wandering the streets of New York City. Walk- ing through Greenwich Village I was struck by a scene


at a quaint restaurant with sidewalk tables. A beautiful couple was sitting at a table. Each was talking on a cell phone and leaned away from the other. Words from the song, “Love the One You’re With” popped into my head as I took in this voyeuristic snapshot of modern life. This was, of course, before the days of the


smart phone. In this scene the only thing you could do on a cell phone was – talk. Five years ago, Apple introduced the iPhone, a device that changed completely what we can do with a phone. Recently the iPhone 5 was introduced. In my


local paper the iPhone 5 received a lukewarm review as the author speculated that Apple may have lost its edge when it could only produce a device that was an improvement, rather than one that would change the way we think of a phone.


Leaning away distracted I have only had a truly “smart” phone for about a year. I’m


just learning all the ways it can distract me and make me liter- ally lean away from the “ones I’m with.” I am beginning to un- derstand what Andy Borowitz means when he tweets that “if the cavemen had Twitter, then fire would have still not been in- vented,” or “Every time I see a seemingly crazy person walking around talking to himself I want to tell him about Twitter.” I find myself exasperated when someone speculates about a


fact or statistic instead of stopping to look it up. After all, the an- swer is right there in the palm of one’s hand. In other words, I’m comfortable with “improvements;” I’m not ready for a device that is going to change the way we think of our phones. Which is why I’m thinking that a reviewer who would expect


that five years is too long a wait for an industry to completely change must be arrogant, selfish, bored and unrealistic. But then I Google “jobs of the future” and learn that “many jobs we now take for granted will soon disappear, while others will emerge that are simply unimaginable today.”


According to Parag Khanna and Aaron Smith (in an article


found at http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/13/ jobs_of_the_future): • a “market researcher” will become a “predictive data ana-


lyst” • a “hospital orderly” will become a “medical roboticist” • a “teaching assistant” an “educational tech-


nologist” • a “construction foreman” a “smart engi-


neer” • a “tour guide” a “space navigator” And I realize that it is true: Most of the jobs


our current students will hold have not yet been invented, plus they will change careers multiple times as the industry in which they work com- pletely transforms itself in cycles of less than five years. It’s no wonder that musician Raul Midon can sing:


Cause I’ve got all the answers Right here in my hand I’ve got all the answers And I don’t have to understand.


Think I’ll rummage through the centuries While I listen to the sea Ahh, it’s good to be so free Living in the 21st century


It is not necessarily a contradiction to have “all the answers”


and not need “to understand.” That’s the world of our students in a time when technology is ubiquitous. But in that world, let’s also notice that for a time, at least, we


do own the “perfect device,” and that when we happen to find ourselves in a romantic restaurant, on a fantastic street, with someone we love, we take the opportunity to lean in.


George Manthey is assistant executive director, ACSA Educational Services.


November/December 2012 15


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