As my beloved readers might already know, I am deep into Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat." I can honestly say that this book is one of the most interesting, most fear-inspiring, most motivating books I've ever read.
The general premise of the book is that because of technological advances that have brought individuals, information, and innovation together in an instant environment, the world is "flattening." Information, for those who can access the internet - which itself has become more inexpensive and widespread - is equally available to everyone (well, except in censoring China, but I doubt that that can last). This is making it easier to find the best, brightest, and cheapest element - labor, capital, infrastructure, whatever you need - not only within the geographical confines of your backyard, but literally anywhere in the world. Friedman also highlights the downside of this trend, and the slippery slope that the eschewing of science and engineering by American students and government investment will inevitably lead to a slide in our competativenesson the global stage.
Working for a science based agency both as an intern (NASA) and now as a PMF (NOAA), this trend is not only worrisome, it's a threat to the agencies' primary missions. If you don't have a meteorologist, a fishery biologist, a rocket scientist, or a physicist pool of labor to draw from (and for government work - it needs to be a large pool), then positions go unfilled, projects and missions go undone, and there is a permanently lost opportunity (because the money gets spent on something else.
I highly recommend that everyone read this book! It's an eye-opener. I won't go on, because I could write for pages about this topic. Let me just say that I told DH that I would fully support him going to get a PhD in a science or engineering related field of his choice.
1 comment:
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