I'm literally mentioning
adults in my comment. Adults have agency. Babies don't. Weird choice of comparison.
As for the car analogy:
You're right, but you also accept the consequences of that choice which is mostly limited to having to pay for a mechanic every once in a while.
The consequences of tech illiteracy is much worse (more comparible to actual illiteracy):
- Lower employability.
- Easier to get scammed / have data leaked or hacked.
- Easier to get manipulated by platforms (social media are comparable to priests interpreting the bible to people before literacy was common).
- On a societal scale, when enough people are affected, the above leads to instability, proliferation of dis- and misinformation on a societal scale.
- Per av above, destabilising of democracy.
I'm sure people argued the same about people not having to learn to read / write during the enlightenment. Im happy they did not win out.
Tragically, it appears we are going the opposite direction this time.