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Don't Teach Your Kid To Code,
Teach Them To Communicate
不要教你的孩子编程，要教他们学会沟通
The jobs of the future don't exist yet — but we know they'll require some serious social skills.
未来的工作现在还不存在——但是我们清楚这些工作将需要一些更严肃的社交技巧。
An education is supposed to prepare you for the future.
教育应当帮你为未来做好准备。
Traditionally, that meant learning certain facts and skills,
传统上，这意味着要学习一定的事实和技能，
like when explorers arrived in America or how to calculate an answer using long division.
比如什么时候开拓者踏上美国的土地或者怎么用长除法计算结果。
Today, curricula have shifted to focus on a more global and digital world,
而如今，学校课程已经将重心转移到一个更加全球化和数字化的世界，
engaging students in subjects like cultural history, basic computing skills, and writing code.
吸引学生关注诸如文化史，基本计算机技能，和写代码等课程。
Yet, the challenges our kids will face will be much different than those of our generation.
然而，我们的孩子面临的挑战将会非常不同于我们这一代曾经面对的。
Most of what a typical student learns in school today will no longer be relevant by the time they graduate from college.
今天大多数典型的学生在学校里学的东西等到他们从大学毕业的时候将不再有任何价值。
A study at the University of Oxford found that 47 percent of today's jobs will be eliminated over the next 20 years.
一项牛津大学的调查发现今天47%的工作在接下来的20年里将会被消灭。
Over the next few decades, much of what we "know" about the world will no longer be true.
在接下来的数十年里，很多我们对世界的了解将不再是真的。
The computers of the future will not be digital.
未来的电脑也将不会是数字的。
Software code itself is disappearing, or at least becoming far less relevant.
软件编程本身也正在消失，或者至少变得更没价值。
Many of what are considered good jobs today will be either automated or devalued.
很多今天被认为的好工作将或者被自动化或者贬值。
We need to rethink how we prepare our kids for the world to come.
我们需要反思该如何帮我们的孩子为即将到来的世界做好准备。
Understanding Systems
理解体系
The subjects we learned in school were mostly static.
我们在学校里学习的科目知识多数是静态的。
The answer to two plus two was always four.
2加2的答案永远是4.
Interpretations of certain subjects may have differed from place to place and evolved over time,
而对特定科目的解释可能会随着地点而变化，随着时间而演变。
but we were taught that the world was based on certain facts.
但是我们一直受到的教育是世界建立在一定的事实之上。
We were evaluated on the basis of knowing those facts.
我们通过知晓这些事实而被评估。
Yet, as the complexity theorist Sam Arbesman has pointed out,
然而，正如复杂性理论家萨姆·阿博斯门指出，
facts have a half-life.
事实具有半衰期。
As the accumulation of knowledge accelerates, those half-lives are shrinking.
随着知识积累的加速，这些事实的半衰期也随之缩短。
For example, when we learned computer programming in school, it was usually in BASIC, a now mostly defunct language.
例如，当我们在学校里学编程的时候，通常学的是BASIC语言，一种现在已经不再起作用的语言。
Today, Python is the most popular language, but will likely not be a decade from now.
今天，Python语言是使用最广泛的语言，但有可能从今天开始的未来十来年内也不再会是了。
Computers themselves will be very different as well, based less on the digital code of ones and zeros and more on quantum laws and the human brain.
电脑本身也会非常不同，变得更少基于1和0的数字编码，更多的基于量子法则和人类大脑。
We will likely store less information on silicon and more in DNA.
我们很可能更少将信息存储在硅芯片里，而更多的存储在DNA中。
There's no way to teach kids how these things will work because nobody, not even experts, is quite sure of that yet.
这些东西如何运作是没有办法教给孩子们的，因为没有人，就算专家，也还没有确定的结论。
Kids today need to learn less about the present and more about the systems future technologies will be based on,
现在的孩子要更少的学习当下更多的去了解那些未来科技所基于的体系，
such as quantum mechanics, genetics, and the logic of code.
例如量子力学，基因工程，和编程逻辑。
Economists have consistently found that routine jobs are most likely to be automated.
经济学家持续的发现那些常规性的工作将很大可能会被自动化替代。
The best way to prepare for the future is to develop the ability to learn and adapt.
所以为将来做好准备的最好方法莫过于发展学习和适应能力。
Applying Empathy and Design Skills
应用共情与设计技能
While machines are taking over many high-level tasks, such as medical analysis and legal research,
当机器接管了很多高端任务，诸如医学分析和法律研究的时候，
there are some things they will never do.
仍然有一些事情它们永远无法完成。
A computer will never strike out in a Little League game, have its heart broken, or see its child born.
一台电脑永远不会因为在少年棒球联盟的比赛中出局而感到心痛，或者看着自己的孩子出生。
So it is very unlikely, if not impossible, that a machine will be able to relate to a human like other humans can.
所以一个机器不太可能像一个人与另外一个人共鸣那样与人产生共鸣。
That absence of empathy makes it hard for machines to design products and processes that will maximize enjoyment and utility for humans.
这种共情能力的缺陷让机器很难为人去设计能最大化人的享受和实用性的产品和工艺流程。
So design skills are likely to be in high demand for decades to come as basic production and analytical processes are increasingly automated.
所以因为基本生产和分析过程被加速自动化，设计能力在即将到来的十数年里很可能会有较高的需求。
We've already seen this process take place with regard to the Internet.
拜互联网所赐我们已经见证了这个过程的发生。
In the early days, it was a very technical field.
早些年里，这还是一个技术领域。
You had to be a highly skilled engineer to make a website work.
你得是一个技艺高超的工程师才能让一个网站运作起来。
Today, however, building a website is something any fairly intelligent high schooler can do —
然而今天， 建一个网站是任何一个稍微聪明点的高中生都能做的事——
and much of the value has shifted to front-end tasks, like designing the user experience.
而且更多的价值转移到了前端设计任务上，例如设计用户体验。
With the rise of artificial intelligence and virtual reality, our experiences with technology will become far more immersive,
随着人工智能和虚拟现实技术的兴起，我们对科技的体验将会是更加沉浸式的，
and that will increase the need for good design.
那将会显著增加对于良好设计的需要。
For example, conversational analysts (yes, that's a real job) are working with designers to create conversational intelligence for voice interfaces.
例如，对话分析师（没错，这可是一个正儿八经的职业）与设计师合作为语音界面设计智能会话。
Furthermore, virtual reality will clearly be much more design intensive than video ever was.
更进一步的，虚拟现实显然会比曾经的视频更加具有设计密集性。
The Ability to Communicate Complex Ideas
交流复杂创意的能力
Much of the recent emphasis in education has been around STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math)
近些年很多教育强调的重点都围绕着STEM学科，即自然科学，技术，工程学和数学。
and proficiency in those areas is certainly important for today’s students to understand the world around them.
精通这些领域对于让今天的孩子们理解周遭世界当然非常重要。
However, many STEM graduates are finding it difficult to find good jobs. On the other hand, the ability to communicate ideas effectively is becoming a highly-prized skill.
然而，很多STEM学科的毕业生发现找一份好的工作还是很难。而另一方面，能够有效的沟通创意变成了一项珍贵的技能。
Consider Amazon, one of the most innovative and technically proficient organizations on the planet.
想一想亚马逊，这个地球上最有创意和精通技术的组织之一，
However, a key factor to its success is its writing culture. The company is so fanatical about the ability to communicate that developing good writing skills is essential to building a successful career there.
然而，其成功的其中一项关键因素是它的写作文化。这家公司对于沟通能力极其狂热的拥戴以至于在那里发展良好的写作能力是职业发展的必备技能。
Think about Amazon’s business and it becomes clear why this is the case.
思考一下亚马逊的经营就会明白为什么它会在这里成为合适的案例。
Sure, it employs highly adept engineers.
当然，它雇佣了很多工程师能手。
But in order to create a truly superior product,
those people need to collaborate closely with designers, marketers, business development executives, and others.
但为了能够创造出真正顶级的产品，这些人需要和设计师，营销人员，业务开发执行人等等人员紧密的合作，
To coordinate all of that activity and keep everybody focused on delivering a specific, high-quality experience,
为了能把这些种种行为协调一致并且让每个人保持专注于产出特定高质量的经验，
communication must be clear and coherent.
沟通必须清晰而且紧密。
So, while learning technical subjects like math and science is always a good idea,
所以，尽管学习例如数学和科学这样的技术学科永远都不失为好主意，
studying subjects that delve into the art of communication — like literature, history, and philosophy — is just as important.
学习那些深入交流的艺术——诸如文学，历史和哲学——的学科也同等重要。
Collaborating and Working in Teams
团队协作
Traditionally, schoolwork has been based on individual accomplishment.
传统上，家庭作业基于个体完成。
Growing up, you were supposed to study at home, come in prepared, and take your test without help.
在成长过程中，你理所应当在家学习，到学校做好准备并且在没有任何帮助的情况下完成测验。
If you looked at your friend’s paper, it was called “cheating” and you got in a lot of trouble for it.
如果你看了你朋友的论文，就会被视为作弊而且会因此惹上一堆麻烦。
You were taught to be accountable for achievements on your own merits.
你被教育要凭借个人品质为你的成就负责。
Yet, consider how the nature of work has changed, even in highly technical fields.
然而，思考一下工作的性质如何发生了变化，甚至是在高科技领域。
In 1920, most scientific papers were written by sole authors;
在1920年，大多数科学论文是由独立作者完成的。
by 1950, that had changed and co-authorship became the norm.
在1950年，这种局面改变了，合著论文变成一种常态。
Today, the average paper has four times as many authors as it did then,
今天，平均每篇论文拥有的作者是其在过去拥有的4倍之多，
the work being done is far more interdisciplinary, and it is done across greater physical distances than in the past.
已完成的作品相比过去更加的跨学科而且跨越了更远的物理距离。
Make no mistake: The high-value work today is being done in teams.
不要误解：当今高价值的工作都是团队合作完成的——
This will only increase as more jobs become automated.
这仅仅会在因为更多的工作被自动化替代的时候发生。
The jobs of the future will not depend as much on knowing facts or crunching numbers as on humans collaborating with other humans to design work for machines.
未来的工作将不会像依赖于人与人之间合作为机器设计任务那样的依赖知晓事实和计算数字。
Collaboration will increasingly become a competitive advantage.
合作将会显著的成为一种竞争优势。
That's why we need to pay attention not only to how our kids work and achieve academically,
这就是为什么我们不仅需要关注我们的孩子如何学习取得学术成就，
but also to how they play, resolve conflicts, and make others feel supported and empowered.
还需要关注他们怎么玩耍，解决冲突，让别人感到被支持和有权力。
Value has shifted from cognitive skills to social skills.
真正的价值已经从认知技能转移到了社交技能。
As kids will increasingly be able to learn complex subjects through technology, the most important class may well be recess.
因为孩子们通过科技能够学到更多的复杂学科，而最为重要的一课却完全可能会停滞。
Perhaps most of all, we need to be honest with ourselves
可能最重要的是，我们需要坦诚地面对自己
and make peace with the fact that our kids’ educational experience will not —
并且与事实和解——孩子的教育经历将不会
and should not — mirror our own.
并且也不应该——照搬我们自己的。
The world they face will be far more complex than that.
他们面对的世界将会复杂的多。
It will be much more difficult to navigate than anything we could imagine back in the days of Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
找到合适的定位将会比在我们《开放的美国学府》那个年代所能想象的任何事都更加困难。
英文原创作者/Greg Satell
翻译/薪栀
音频内容/薪栀
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注: Times at Ridgemont High 《开放的美国学府》,上世纪80年代的美国青春校园片