I always find these sorts of articles ridiculous. Its like those people who always say "we need an businessman president!" A regular profession is largely irrelevant to the skills needed to be an effective President. The relevant limitation isn't someone who has the right ideas. It's finding someone who can savvily spend political capital to achieve particular ends.
Working in a given profession for an extended period of time imparts a certain world view. Most politicians were lawyers, and I think it shows. Maybe we need a "hacker" president, not just a programmer, but I do believe that a programmer president would have a point of view very different from those currently represented in the government--one that can understand and appreciate the technological challenges that will continue to grow in importance. The Internet and its effects on business, war, civil liberties, and everyday life is very much uncharted territory and understood by very few. Until someone in a position of sufficient influence, perhaps the president, understands software, I think the government will remain in the dark ages.
Having been both a programmer and a lawyer, I don't think the world views are really that different. They are both detail-oriented and analytical. I think lawyers have a stronger inclination towards fairness and programmers have a stronger inclination towards correctness, but I think most good lawyers would be good programmers and vice versa.
You don't need to be a programmer to understand the impact of the internet on civil liberties, etc. How does knowing about how TCP provides reliability on top of IP help you understand the impact oF the Internet on civil rights beyond just using the Internet? I think that's an old/young thing, not a programmer/lawyer thing.
I don't think shuffling among different highly analyrical/detail-oriented professions will achieve sea-change. I'd much rather see someone in office with a legitimately different world view. Maybe a social worker. Somebody whose job requires empathy, communication, and being able to work with people in the toughest situations.
The problem is that we'd need everyone involved in the political process to be changed similarly. A "hacker" President surrounded by thousands of lawyers is going to get precisely nowhere.
Certainly. Prior professions may help define a candidate's initial campaign platform and narrative, but they rarely explain political activity once in office. Politics is a game with very few reliable rules but where even minor actions have overwhelming consequences.
Comments
I always find these sorts of articles ridiculous. Its like those people who always say "we need an businessman president!" A regular profession is largely irrelevant to the skills needed to be an effective President. The relevant limitation isn't someone who has the right ideas. It's finding someone who can savvily spend political capital to achieve particular ends.
Working in a given profession for an extended period of time imparts a certain world view. Most politicians were lawyers, and I think it shows. Maybe we need a "hacker" president, not just a programmer, but I do believe that a programmer president would have a point of view very different from those currently represented in the government--one that can understand and appreciate the technological challenges that will continue to grow in importance. The Internet and its effects on business, war, civil liberties, and everyday life is very much uncharted territory and understood by very few. Until someone in a position of sufficient influence, perhaps the president, understands software, I think the government will remain in the dark ages.
Having been both a programmer and a lawyer, I don't think the world views are really that different. They are both detail-oriented and analytical. I think lawyers have a stronger inclination towards fairness and programmers have a stronger inclination towards correctness, but I think most good lawyers would be good programmers and vice versa.
You don't need to be a programmer to understand the impact of the internet on civil liberties, etc. How does knowing about how TCP provides reliability on top of IP help you understand the impact oF the Internet on civil rights beyond just using the Internet? I think that's an old/young thing, not a programmer/lawyer thing.
I don't think shuffling among different highly analyrical/detail-oriented professions will achieve sea-change. I'd much rather see someone in office with a legitimately different world view. Maybe a social worker. Somebody whose job requires empathy, communication, and being able to work with people in the toughest situations.
The problem is that we'd need everyone involved in the political process to be changed similarly. A "hacker" President surrounded by thousands of lawyers is going to get precisely nowhere.
Certainly. Prior professions may help define a candidate's initial campaign platform and narrative, but they rarely explain political activity once in office. Politics is a game with very few reliable rules but where even minor actions have overwhelming consequences.
No one in their right mind plays this game.