A Stanford Professor named Gerald Crabtree recently published a two part paper in the journal Trends in Genetics suggested that evolution is making us dumber. An article about it from Time Newsfeed is here. .
The article resulted in a great amount of conversation on the internet, pro and con. Many people used events they disagree with (the election, etc.) to prove he is right. Many disagreed with him. I am of the latter camp. I have never thought we humans are as smart as we think we are. Nor do I place much faith in the way we try to measure intelligence. But I think that life is getting more complex as our population and our desires increase, and that we are becoming less capable of dealing with it. Moore’s law says that the number of devices on integrated circuits doubles about every two years. The number of neurons in the adult human brain definitely does not. But I don't think it is decreasing.
I seem to often agree with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, and this was the case with his editorial in the November 18th edition, entitled “If You’ve Got the Skills, She’s got the Job.” He begins by writing about Traci Tapani and her sister, who are co-presidents of Wyoming Machine, a metal shop in Stacy, Minnesota, and have had difficulty in hiring people of the skill level they need—in particular welders. As she says about the applicants for her work, “They could make beautiful welds, but they did not understand metallurgy, modern cleaning and brushing techniques, and how different metals and gases, pressures, and temperatures had to be combined” As she also explained, her company does a wide variety of small high technology jobs, so her welders must be able to read and understand a number of complicated design drawings per day. The article goes on to talk about the need for higher skills, and the need for educational institutions to deliver them.
I had an uncle who spent his career as a machinist and then
a shop superintendent. He began in 1932 with
a four year apprenticeship, and when he retired at the age of 65, the same
machines that he had learned on (with some improvements) were still being used. Little computer aided
design, few digitally controlled machining centers, no plasma cutters, and
certainly no 3d printers. I learned to work metal on essentially the same
machines my uncle did, and in fact still use a Bridgeport mill (with no digital
control), a South Bend Lathe (with all manual controls), and things like
Vernier Calipers. But my shop is more of
an antique than a symbol of modern practice. Design used to be done with
pencils, not powerful computers. Most
manufacturing used to consist of relatively simple cutting, bending, casting,
and welding of metals such as steel and aluminum, and did not include such
things as photolithography and computer controlled robots. Welders could get by with hand, eye, and
experience. No longer. As Traci Tapani says in the Friedman article,
“If you work in a manufacturing facility, you use math every day. As Friedman says “Who knew, welding is now a
STEMS job—that is a
job that requires knowledge of science, technology,
engineering, and math. The photo here is of me doing some mig welding (I know, without adequate protective clothing). I know science, technology, engineering, and math. Maybe I should build up my welding skills and apply for a job with Traci.
In design and manufacturing, not only has theory become more complex, but increasing creativity and business ability is being required of those involved. New materials and processes, expectations of performance, light weight, and precision, and the increasing sophistication of technology and technical products, are simply raising the bar on what is required to work in many areas. When I was a simple mechanical engineer involved in making spacecraft 50 years ago, I didn’t have to deal with such things as carbon filaments, integrated circuits, software bugs, and additive manufacturing.
I may have become somewhat dumber. But the game has definitely become more difficult. And simultaneously, not only have vocational courses in schools in areas having to do with manufacturing not kept up, but such programs, along with rigorous training programs in industry (four year apprenticeships?), are disappearing fast. Lowering unemployment requires both improving the economy and much more training. And making better products requires more education and higher skill levels.
Recent Comments