My research is at the intersection of culture and technology, which means I may have a slightly different view on how we think about what skills and abilities we will need in the post-COVID era. For example: when we think about what we will need and what areas of growth there will be after COVID-19, we may first think of bioengineering. Vaccines are something we all look forward to, and it is something that allows us to return to the community without fear. We may also consider ICT, because platforms such as Zoom, Google, and Facebook have become so important to us at this time.
However, with the hat of humanities, I know very well that we will face many problems that cannot be solved by science and technology. What if a vaccine is developed but people do not accept it? This is a cultural issue, a question of trust and information flow. Similarly, I see that our increasing use of online communication tools is becoming something we rely on, such as electricity or roads. But unlike these public infrastructures, our online technology platform is operated by a private company without any public supervision. In fact, anyone who has experienced platform lock-in (a software starts to push you in the direction of other products in the company) or accidental software updates that derail their productivity will recognize that this is a different type of user relationship. This is also a cultural and communication issue.
In this case, when I think of the ability to truly stand out in the COVID era, the humanities, not the STEM toolkit, is what reminds me the most, for example:
Critical thinking and situational thinking: Critical thinking allows us to question whether the news we hear tells us what we really need to know, rather than what they think we want to hear, or what makes our behavior easier to control. Likewise, contextual thinking enables us to introduce historical lessons to solve modern problems. These skills allow us to actively filter information and maximize the understanding of the situation: After all, in an unprecedented health crisis, the lessons of the 1918 influenza pandemic and the launch of the polio vaccine became the touchstone of our decision-making.
Empathy: I think empathy and the way to connect with people has become a key challenge. This is not only true in the networks we build, but also in local groups where we are now reminded of our interdependence. This may include not only people like us or people shown to us through algorithms because we exhibit similar online behaviors, but also people who live near us and may need our help (and vice versa), our food production People, medical workers, and even people in other countries are struggling to meet the same challenges. COVID has made the connections between our local and global communities very clear, but unless we can treat these "others" like ourselves, we can't do anything with this view.
This skill set will also enable us to make ethical decisions about technology.
Resilience: The interesting thing about flexibility is that avoiding difficulties does not allow us to develop this skill when we really need it. The more we work for our knowledge and the more we need to go through certain types of experiences, the more adaptability we will have. Usually, the paradigm in technology development is to make it easier for users, but some things should actually become challenges, otherwise we will lose the opportunity to understand the complexity of the situation, solve problems, and face challenges that we can learn to solve. These setbacks can help us build resilience in a relatively "safe" environment, so that when we do face greater challenges, we will be prepared.
Creativity: Creativity has allowed many of us to survive this pandemic. It allows us to connect with family or communities in creative ways, invest time in creating or building something we can pass on during the lock-in period, or experience performance The artist's extraordinary art on the stage in an empty theater or even in their own living room. This is very important to many people. I think that when we move to a technology platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI), we need to make sure we stick to these things, not only for the goods they produce, but also for their process benefits, their connections, and their emotional power. Promote. Just because artificial intelligence can write music does not mean that we humans can stop doing it.
So what I see is not a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skill set, even though it is related to STEM. Instead of calling it a science or computer science skill set, it is better to call it a computing and scientific thinking skill set. Not to allow you to build a skill set of the COVID-19 application, but to allow you to fully understand the application so that you can make an informed and informed decision about whether to install it on your own device; whether it is responsible Developed, or whether it poses a threat to your own personal information. This skill set will also enable us to make ethical decisions about technology. Technology companies have a strong urge to build things that people will buy, or what engineers think they can build-where is the technological frontier. This is very exciting, but we also need these companies to build communities that require more than just things that people will buy. Of course, we need technology to promote economic development, but we cannot allow economic needs to exceed human needs.
It will be a huge challenge for every citizen to develop this skill, but it is also an important challenge. The post-COVID world will bring us new difficulties, not only because we know the economic and social reconstruction process we must expect, but also because other social and environmental pressures continue to be in the background. If we can take steps now to encourage resilience, critical thinking, empathy and creativity, they will serve us well in the future.
If we can take steps now to encourage resilience, critical thinking, empathy and creativity, they will serve us well in the future.
