There's a conceit among technologists that Washington doesn't know how technology works. I don't think this is true. In my experience with the federal government, I have been quite amazed at how much people did understand. Washington is full of nerds. They are often latin majors rather than computer science majors, but they are nerds nonetheless, and they are sharp and quick learners.
What is missing is not people who are "technically enabled." Rather, it's people who share the values many technologists share. You can understand how TCP/IP works without buying into the philosophies pertaining to an open and neutral internet. And its those people that seem to shy away from participating in politics. Not people who can describe what happens when a packet gets dropped, but people who can articulate why its better to have an internet that doesn't drop packets based on who sent them.
> There's a conceit among technologists that Washington doesn't know how technology works. I don't think this is true.
As someone who has sat in the room with one of the highest ranking congressmen whilst explaining to him that one of his bills to support one of his big campaign contributors was going to stifle free speech, kill privacy as we know it, and undermine private property rights... I gotta say, no they really don't. Not surprising, as most people, even people who work in technology, don't know how technology works.
> Washington is full of nerds. They are often latin majors rather than computer science majors, but they are nerds nonetheless, and they are sharp and quick learners.
I think all of that is true, and concede that a lot of people in Washington are probably smarter than me. I have absolute confidence that they understand computer technology at least as well as I understand Latin.
Here's the dose of reality: how many of the non-Latin majors on Hacker News explain how Map Reduce works in Latin? ;-)
> Rather, it's people who share the values many technologists share.
Totally agree, and frankly it's a really big problem for engineers in particular. Engineers like tools, and they like the freedom to come up with ways to creatively use them. Most people prefer products. Just that difference alone creates a whole different set of values.
What is missing is not people who are "technically enabled." Rather, it's people who share the values many technologists share. You can understand how TCP/IP works without buying into the philosophies pertaining to an open and neutral internet. And its those people that seem to shy away from participating in politics. Not people who can describe what happens when a packet gets dropped, but people who can articulate why its better to have an internet that doesn't drop packets based on who sent them.