If you really want to know about the future, don't ask a technologist, a scientist, a physicist. No! Don't ask somebody who's writing code. No, if you want to know what society's going to be like in 20 years, ask a kindergarten teacher.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of understanding societal change through the perspective of educators rather than technical experts.
Clifford Stoll highlights the idea that the future of society is shaped more significantly by the values, knowledge, and emotional intelligence imparted by educators, particularly kindergarten teachers, than by the technological advancements or scientific developments proposed by technologists and scientists. This suggests that the foundational experiences and social interactions fostered in early education play a crucial role in shaping the future culture and behavior of individuals in society.
In practice
In a speech about the future of technology, one might quote this to emphasize the role of education.
Data isn't information. ... Information, unlike data, is useful. While there's a gulf between data and information, there's a wide ocean between information and knowledge. What turns the gears in our brains isn't information, but ideas, inventions, and inspiration. Knowledge-not information-implies understanding. And beyond knowledge lies what we should be seeking: wisdom.
Data is not information, Information is not knowledge, Knowledge is not understanding, Understanding is not wisdom.
Just once in a while let us exalt the importance of ideas and information.
Here’s how a child listens: you tell him something, and he puts his own interpretation on what you said. That’s what he hears. No one has ever heard you.
Semantics, or the study of meaning, remained undeveloped, while phonetics made rapid progress and even came to occupy the central place in the scientific study of language.
When the average child is now spending nearly eight hours a day in front of some kind of screen, many of their opinions and preferences are being shaped by the marketing campaigns you all create. And that’s where the problem comes in.. ... And I’m here today with one simple request - and that is to do even more and move even faster to market responsibly to our kids.
When we praise children for their intelligence, we tell them that this is the name of the game: Look smart; don't risk making mistakes.
Stay curious, keep learning and keep growing. And always strive to be more interested than interesting.
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