On Computer Touching

there's a common sentiment in some communities i'm in that people who understand computers at more than the most surface level can't really be trusted. and, yk, i get it; it's an inscrutable, esoteric, yet deeply powerful art, and the people who practice it are often quite disconnected from society by financial privilege or simple introversion. it's one of many reasons i call what i do wizardry, which is meant in the AD&D, swords and sorcery, Forbidden Tower sense - but, at the same time, it isn't actually magic; it's a complicated tower of social conventions baked, in part, into sophisticated patterns of metal on glass.

lots of folks in my little pocket of the 'net, myself included, use the term "computer toucher" broadly and with only a little irony to mean programmers, hackers, system administrators, computer engineers, and the like - but that's silly, right? if we're talking via the League, we're touching computers; if we're talking via Discord, we're touching computers; by definition, anyone reading this post in its original medium is a "computer toucher" in its literal sense.

i certainly don't believe it's incumbent upon everyone to understand "how computer work" in any detailed sense. i have four years of formal education and a decade of autodidactism behind my knowledge of things like the syntax and semantics of programming languages, the operation of network protocols, and the conventions behind USB device communication. i have an entire bookshelf full of titles like Linux Kernel Development (not recommended) and Rust Atomics and Locks (a damn good book). you do not and should not need to understand all this nonsense to live in the world. that said, i do think there is a basic level of competency that it's reasonable to expect from people who use computers on a daily basis, and the more i see companies like Apple and Google try to erode computer education, the more important i think it is to make sure people get some.

to analogize: i drive a car (i know, i hate it too lol.) i am not a "car person"; i know some people who are, which is great, because i can ask them for help with things like changing my oil. i don't really understand why i have to change the oil; does it like, get hot and chemically change? does it get contaminated with dust? i haven't found the time to look into it. i don't know how my car works; i understand that it's got an engine and a transmission (though i'm not totally sure what that is). and that's okay.

but can you imagine if i tried to drive a car without ever learning that cars use gasoline? if i tried to get a license without learning the difference between the accelerator and the brake? if i got angry and shut down the conversation when i said i didn't want to set my e-brake on a steep hill and someone tried to tell me that it's unsafe? that's absurd.

that's how i feel about computers. no, people shouldn't have to know what a kernel is to use Discord, and indeed they do not. but you do have to know that the car burns gas. you are on the hook for understanding the basic operating principle of the thing you're operating - the thing that runs every nook and cranny of the society you live in.