Posting Date: October 28, 2002

Will the U.S. fall behind in tech? (CNN) -- "What has top executives of arguably the world's two most important tech companies saying that the U.S. may soon cede its tech leadership? Three fundamental concerns: what both see as a disastrous diminution in national commitment to IT research and development, a dearth of engineering graduates, and the low penetration of broadband compared with other countries." (Comments: Why Are U.S. Mathematics Students Falling Behind Their International Peers? and U.S. Students Continue to Lag in Math, Science)

Reader Comments...

The US may fall behind in tech, but as long as it has the Smart Bombs, Cruise Missiles and the will to control the oil reserves in the Middle East then it won't matter that much. (Except for the poor schmucks who lose their jobs, but then there's always a bit more room in the prisons for them).

Posted by: Mac on October 29, 2002 02:58 AM

I gotta tell ya, I use to believe boogieman shibboleths like this story, until I moved to Japan - ostensibly home to some of them math & science whiz kids populating the upper reaches of these studies.

The endemic lack of even basic reasoning or critical thinking skills evinced here, coupled with the invariable privileging of feats of rote "mastery" over lateral, problem-solving thought, convinces me America has little to fear - from Japan, at least.

That's as long as we can keep our kids from being shot, of course.

Posted by: Adam Greenfield on October 29, 2002 03:27 AM

So Adam, you're saying that the Japanese are basically dumb? Interesting.

Posted by: Phil Colbert on October 29, 2002 10:59 AM

Phil, that's a distortion of what I said and you know it.

I'm quite positive the spread of intelligence in Japanese kids is similar to what is observed elsewhere. What I implied above (and what I believe) is that that intelligence, along with intellectual curiosity and the ability to think around corners, is systematically suppressed by an educational system thoroughly unsuited to the 21st century.

Posted by: Adam Greenfield on October 30, 2002 12:35 AM

The US will still maintain ownership of much of the leading technologies, that's for sure. They will invariably to this by sticking to current business trends, one of which includes mergers and acquisitions. Where the US will eventually fail is at the IT employment level. The US has already lost much of its strong manufacturing capabilities. Also, this so-called US service economomy is beginning to shift abroad. If history has taught us anything, in order to stay competitive, US businesses will eventually seek foreign and cheaper IT people. Then again, who says it isn't already happening?

Posted by: Francis Wu on October 30, 2002 10:02 AM

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