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Showing posts with the label Data Colonialism

The Great Digital Divide: How Programming Became the New Latin

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In the Middle Ages, knowing Latin meant you held the keys to knowledge, power, and societal influence. Today, that key isn't a dead language - it's JavaScript, Python, and C++. And we're recreating the same feudal system, just with better WiFi. Just half a century ago, computer programming existed as an arcane discipline confined largely to university laboratories and research institutions. It was the exclusive domain of highly specialized professionals—primarily mathematicians, physicists, and engineers—who served as the high priests of this new digital temple. These early programmers didn't merely write code; they conducted intricate dialogues with room-sized machines that demanded both mathematical precision and almost alchemical intuition. What's particularly striking is how this rarefied world mirrors the medieval scholarly circles where Latin flourished. Much like the clergy who controlled access to sacred texts and theological discourse, these early computer ...