NYT columnist Thomas Friedman says Americans need to emulate Asian and desi nerds:
The Chinese and the Indians are not racing us to the bottom. They are racing us to the top. Young Indian and Chinese entrepreneurs are not content just to build our designs. They aspire to design the next wave of innovations and dominate those markets. Good jobs are being outsourced to them not simply because they’ll work for less, but because they are better educated in the math and science skills required for 21st-century work.When was the last time you met a 12-year-old who told you he or she wanted to grow up to be an engineer? When Bill Gates goes to China, students hang from the rafters and scalp tickets to hear him speak. In China, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America, Britney Spears is Britney Spears. We need a Bill Cosby-like president to tell all parents the truth: throw out your kid’s idiotic video game, shut off the TV and get Johnny and Suzy to work, because there is a storm coming their way.
if nerds got more sex, this wouldn’t be an issue.
i’d vote for bill cosby
& nerds get sex too. they just have it with other nerds.
they just have it with other nerds.
well, if you’re a female nerd, you have a skewed perspective. the nerd sex ratio favors you 🙂
Bill Cosby? Please. The overated commedian had a kid out of wedlock, refused to even acknowledge it was his and provided no financial support. He’s got a lot of you snowed with his do as I say and not as I do.
OMG — Is this Al from politicalanimal/washington monthly? THAT Al?
Our society rewards entrepreneurs, investors, business people, and to a lesser extent doctors and lawyers. Engineers are put at the at the bottom of the corporate ladder. Engineers tend to work and study harder at more boring osbcure tasks and get paid less and have fewer opportunities for growth or advancement than people in business or sales.
Most Americans who are concerned with either money or social status avoid engineering careers and it’s not hard to see why.
If the US really needs more workers in science and engineering why are all the incentives in our society aimed at investors, management types, sales people and lawyers?