I totally agree the governance that fines someone for applying S.T.E.M (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) principles to real world problems and puts a case forward should be praised. All people should learn the basics in school.
On the $500 fine:
As silly as the particular subject may be, this kind of activity needs whole-hearted support, not a fine.
3D printed buildings:
Allegedly Russians have already commercialized 3D printing of buildings: http://apis-cor.com/en/ , but I am unable to find any portfolio of that company outside the demo houses (not that I've tried hard).
Social media:
Totally cringing about Sweden being at the top. Interesting how similar those numbers are to the US, though. Still:
The report shows that internet access doesn't necessarily lead to social media use, but rather it's a product of cultural norms and age.
It certainly does, but the article (I think) is overemphasizing the age correlation. @ryan, so does Sweden, which has numbers eerily similar to USA, and ages eerily similar to Germany. I think there are some other forces at play here than this article manages to suggest.
How about the correlation of population percentile fluent in non-Engrish English, as in having a native voice-over for English language movies? That surely coincides better with the data. Also does the general awareness of self-reliance in each country, which (if it could be found that it really matters) may impact on how easy we pick up on (digital?) trends and platforms as we see other people do? Or cultural conservatism? Or the early state-subsidized adoption of internet? I don't know.
The presented data alone seems insufficient for any trustworthy conclusion about causation (either way), or have I missed some reference? At the very least I think the age factor here is no more than a subset of the cultural aspect.
This subject is worth exploring more by any rate though, because it is deeply connected to our personal and cultural identity. Particularly so because the technology is modifying our vestigial identities at an accelerating rate as we speak.
"femdell and twindell"
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