What shall I teach my son?
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Programmer and soon-to-be father Steve Krouse published an essay asking what he should teach his son.
The piece ties parenting choices to how schools have outlasted past education technologies.
Background
Steve Krouse is a programmer and soon-to-be father who wrote the essay "What Shall I Teach My Son?" as he and his wife expect their first child. He says his economically valuable skill, programming, suddenly feels less valuable, prompting him to reconsider education's purpose in the age of AGI (artificial general intelligence). He cites author Neil Postman, of The End of Education (1995), on "the medium is the message," arguing how we teach often matters more than what we teach, and notes he predicted in 2013 that MOOCs (massive open online courses) would upend education, while schools survived radio, motion pictures and the internet.
How it unfolded
- Sep 28, 2026NPR reports on the alleged gang rape at Cornell's Chi Phi fraternity, which thrust the university into the spotlight.
- Oct 13, 2026Protesters listen to speakers at a rally in Ithaca, New York, in support of a former Cornell student known as Jane Doe.
- Oct 15, 2026Nicole Graev Lipson's Cognoscenti commentary on what she'll teach her children about Greek life is published.
- Oct 19, 2026Steve Krouse publishes his essay "What Shall I Teach My Son?"
Who’s saying what
- Expert
- Krouse says he strongly believes Postman's point that "the medium is the message" and that how we teach is often more important than what we teach.
- Caution
- Lipson, a former sorority member, says parents, teachers and counselors can disrupt the Greek system's pipeline by speaking openly and honestly with kids about its harms.
- Support
- Lipson says she feels sadness for the parents of the Cornell 7 and imagines many tried hard to raise good people.
Still unverified
The gang rape at Cornell's Chi Phi fraternity is described as "alleged."