Eh, just like most programmers don’t use assembly, layers of abstraction make increasingly complex tasks simple for humans to operate.
There’s nothing wrong with learning to program, but it’s not some sort of requirement for living in the 21st century.
so far no one has developed a layer of abstraction general enuf to replace programming... i do think that we will see a general purpose, non-coding, visual way of assembling programs in our lifetimes. right now there are domain specific visual programming languages, and whoever creates a general purpose visual way of "coding" is going to be a centi-billionaire for sure
i disagree with you here however, i think that learning the language of the machines is a requirement if you want to maintain some kind of semblance of power in the future... machines will be your overlords if you don't understand how to manipulate, create, and control their minds
I didn't mean to limit abstraction to just programming. The analogy works to all complex systems.
You don't need to know metallurgy and fabrication techniques to drive a car even though those skills are essential in creating the car.
Systems that have a human end user are designed to be used by the human being (with varying degrees of success). The people who create those systems will always be a minority of the population by necessity because those systems have to then provide some sort of function.
If you are concerned that the machines will be the overlords, then you are talking about general AI run amok. And your programming skills won't save you in that scenario as the futuristic AI will be able to alter the code anyways.
umm, exactly, there are tools for driving but who holds more power here, 1) the human which created the machine and knows exactly how it works, 2) the machine, 3) or the humans who use it as a tool and just know how to use it proficiently?
number 3 is clearly on the bottom of the totem pole
when the machine breaks, or malfunctions, group 3 is powerless.
group 1 is clearly on top. they can create the machines and tell them what to do
the machines have far more power than group 3, the "user" class.
not learning to program is putting yourself forever in the less powerful user class