Post #4105982

I've seen a couple blog posts floating around that talk about what "technical" means. Their discussions are good and interesting but don't directly get at the heart of the issue. To be technical is to pay attention to details. That's all. A (classical) computer is a detail machine; it only operates upon bits, it only knows bits, and it only decides bits. To be technical is to try to keep pace with the computer and know details as precisely as it does. Framed this way, it should be obvious that humans aren't technical and can't really be technical. This fundamental insecurity is the heart of priestly gatekeeping of computer science.