Lab Assignment 2

I’m not interested in turning my students into professional code monkeys.

Matthew G. Kirschenbaum

I am for the premise that humanities students should learn to code. I think people agree that everyone should learn how to read and write. In the 21st century, being able to read and write is essential to fully take part in society. The same goes for learning basic math and science—knowledge is a big part of being human. Now that we live in a digital world where computers are everywhere, I think humanities students should also learn the basics of coding.

Take Socrates as an example. He was like a humanities student of his time, but he couldn’t read or write. It was the next generation that wrote down his ideas and kept them alive. Every generation builds on the knowledge of the one before, which is how humanity grows and evolves. If humanities students don’t learn modern basics like coding, they are depraving themselves out on important knowledge. That goes against what being a humanities student is all about—learning and understanding the world.

Not learning to code can be a danger, because it might make you less prepared for jobs in the future. For example, lawmakers who don’t understand technology can end up passing laws without fully knowing how the technology works. The same idea applies to coding—it’s becoming as important as reading, math, and science. Learning the basics of coding won’t hurt you; instead, it will help you stay modern and keep up with today’s society. Imagine not knowing that 2+2=4, while your child does—it would be embarrassing. The same goes for coding. As our world becomes more digital, knowing the basics of coding helps you adapt and stay connected.

I started learning coding in 7th grade when my dad introduced me to Swift Playground, an app on my iPad that teaches programming (specifically, the Swift programming language). I learned the basics by playing games and understanding how Swift syntax works. Since then, I’ve explored other programming languages and created projects with them. These days, I use Python as my go-to language.

Programming is a lot of fun. Once you understand the basics, creating simple programs can be exciting and rewarding. That sense of curiosity and learning is exactly what being a humanities student is all about—exploring and growing your knowledge.

Here’s one:

Click me!

Here’s the code for the above:

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6120QOlsfU">Click me!</a>

Here’s also the code for the pop up alert when you first clicked on this post:

<script>
    alert("Humanities students should learn to code.");
</script>