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The Most Important Skill of the 21st Century

The average American adult spends at least 8 hours a day in front of a screen. Computers are becoming increasingly relevant to both working and home life and Americans now rely on processors for a number of essential tasks. So it makes sense that being able to program computers is an important skill, possibly the most important of the 21st century.

“[Writing code] is the new literacy. In this century if you want to have the power to change the world, writing code is the most practical thing you can do,” says Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of reddit and author of the new book Without Their Permission. He also invests in and advises over seventy tech startups and hosts a show, Small Empires, which explores the startup community.

Internet entrepreneurship, says Ohanian, is an increasingly viable career path for young Americans. “I want to take 'entrepreneur' off of a pedestal because we are all being entrepreneurial in the work that we do. It means having an idea and executing it, and the Internet is now enabling people to have this entrepreneurial lifestyle and impact at a much bigger scale. If you wanted to change the world in the industrial revolution you had to open a factory, in the internet revolution you need only open your laptop.”