> In just a few years, understanding programming will be an indispensable part of active citizenship.

This seems to contradict the article's earlier point about "jobs that demand intense focus", like brain surgery and structural engineering.

No-one would claim that "In just a few years, understanding brain surgery will be an indispensable part of active citizenship."

Since programming is "complicated" and "exquisitely technical," why would we expect it to be "an indispensable part of active citizenship," as opposed to a specialty like any other, and how is that going to change in "just a few years"?