Greg
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990114S0009
Adams is confident American Indians offer some
unique qualities that "give them an advantage in
technology":
Many are bilingual. They're used to
thinking abstractly in different languages.
There's a strong musical heritage. Just ask
any software company about the "music
connection." The proportion of software
employees who play music is above the
average for other professions.
Holistic thinking. The American Indian
culture constantly refers to the
interconnectedness of nature. Part of the
reason American Indians have been called
the original ecologists is their appreciation
of how changing one facet of their natural
environment affects another part.
"They worked with holistic systems all their
lives," said Adams, a distinct advantage
when working with software systems and
networks. The cultural tendency is to explore
all ramifications of a design or change in a
system, and not be satisfied working on an
isolated piece.