What is it with people and technology? Once upon a time everyone used to think it was clever to say they couldn’t program the VCR. Now it’s more likely to be ‘I hate those GPS things, they always get you lost or take you via Scunthorpe’ (quick test of the Nature Network obscenity checker, should it exist, in that quote).

Well, I for one, love my GPS. It has just taken me to visit an old friend and one time programming wizard (now hi-falutin Oxford University type person), Peet Morris , without a single hiccup. Similarly, it has guided me on many a venture to schools to give talks and to business seminars, all without a flaw (except for once trying to take me down a busses only road).

Compared with attempting to map read while driving it’s incredibly safe and hugely efficient.

I can only assume it’s either a lack of imagination of something of the old C. P. Snow ‘two cultures’ effect. If you aren’t from a scientific background, then it’s considered clever somehow to broadcast your ignorance of things scientific and technological.

It was certainly noticable when I was at university, where I divided my time between friends who were into science and musicians, that practically all the scientists had a interest in music (and many were performers) while most of the musicians had something close to pride in their total ignorance of things scientific.

Is it me, or is that just a little sad?