The other day I met a little girl playing Minecraft on the computer. I found that rather intriguing as I thought she was very young (she told me she was 8) to play a game of such complexity and sophistication as Minecraft. Even more surprising was when she told me that she plays it for quite a while and that her brother taught her how to play when she was ‘little’. She was comfortably playing it online, multiplayer, building stuff, chatting with people and avoiding a lunch call from her mom as best as she could – all at the same time. It was like I was watching a miracle.
I consider myself pretty ‘involved’ with computers. I got my first one in 1985, when I was ‘just’ 8 and a half years old. That was a C64 and I was considered a very advanced kid by the adults at the time. My interest in computers grew exponentially over the years. But by the time this little girl is 8 and a half, she will probably know more than I knew about computers by the time I was 14.
My daughter is just turning two in two months, and she already uses iPad better than her grandparents. She is able to play and solve games made for 3-4 year olds (like the game I made for her – Starkey&Peggy).
It seems that our 86bn neurons are an insanely capable mess. If trained they can produce miracles. I hope they will.
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