????作為一種假說，摩爾定律提出，集成電路上的晶體管的數量每兩年就會翻倍。這樣我們就完全可以認為，這個翻倍的效果也會讓處理器的速度加倍，因為芯片上晶體管多了，處理器也必須更快才行。

????不過，要想無限提高芯片的速度，不是說拼命往芯片上塞晶體管就行了。計算速度還離不開內存容量等因素，同時也受到磁盤速度等要素的限制。

????正如我們不能為了無限提高處理器速度而往芯片上多堆晶體管一樣，也不能僅僅通過讓更多女性進入工程學院和編程學院就指望下一個馬克?扎克伯格能夠應運而生。扎克伯格只用了大約七年的時間就打造了一個價值10億美元以上的公司。就算是選拔那些從青少年時期就開始黑客生涯的女性也是不夠的（這樣的女性確實存在，本人就是其中之一，而我這代人中這樣的人還不少）。

????如果真的打算造就一位女版馬克（或者女版的斯蒂夫?喬布斯、杰夫?貝佐斯、埃隆?穆斯克等科技英才），同時出于討論的目的讓我假設這確實是個很有價值的事業，那就需要在很多方面有所改變。光教會女性如何編程是遠遠不夠的。

????改變心態

????請包涵一下我愛用歷史掌故打比方的習慣。1865年，美國政府正式廢除了奴隸制。盡管這確實是一個巨大的成就，但對非裔美國人來說，它所提供的只是一定程度的經濟自由。85年后他們仍然因為種族隔離制度被視為二等公民。直到20世紀50年代種族隔離制度才宣告終止，又直到2008年才有了第一位民選的非裔美國總統。掐指一算，非裔美國人獲得平等的政治地位用了整整143年！

????遺憾的是，女性直到1920年才獲得投票權。在這之后，一直到20世紀50年代和60年代，社會才開始重視培養女性上大學。不過就算是這樣，當時女性進入職場、婚育后繼續留在工作崗位上還是被人們看成是怪事；而這恰恰表明女性要么經濟狀況不佳，要么缺乏社會支持。

????因此，盡管女性和少數民族享有自由的口號一直喊得震天響，但實際狀況的改變卻始終步履遲緩。

????實實在在的改變意味著必須積極推出能讓人們獲得自由的舉措，而這既需要教育，也離不開社會實踐，只有這樣才能破除陳規陋習。

????我得措辭謹慎地指出，西方社會好不容易懂得了讓女性接受教育的價值，但現在是時候向一些社會陋習宣戰了。

????Moore's law, which is really a conjecture, states that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles every two years. It is safe to presume that this doubling effect also doubles processor speeds, because having more transistors on a chip means faster processors.

????However, you cannot just cram more transistors onto a chip in order to double its speed indefinitely. Computing speed is also based on things such as memory capacity and it is limited by factors such disk speed.

????Just as you cannot cram more transistors onto a chip in order to double processor speeds indefinitely, you cannot expect that simply adding more women to engineering colleges and code academies will produce a Mark Zuckerberg, who will go on to build a billion-dollar company in roughly seven years. Even having women who have been hacking since they were teenagers isn't enough (and mind you these women do exist, I am one of them, and there are more than a handful of others in my generation).

????Now if the goal is to produce a female version of Mark (or Steve, Jeff, Elon, etc.), and for the sake of argument I'll assume that this is a worthy cause, it's going to take change on many levels. Teaching women how to code isn't enough.

????Change in Mindset

????Please bear with me as I draw an analogy using history. In 1865 the U.S. government abolished slavery. While this was an achievement, it only afforded some level of economic freedom to African Americans. Nearly 85 years later they were still being treated as second-class citizens via segregation. It wasn't until the 1950s that segregation ended, and it wasn't until 2008 that we elected our first African American president. Doing the math it took 143 years before African American were supposedly on equal political footing!

????Unfortunately, women weren't afforded the right to vote until 1920. Even after that, it wasn't until the late 1950s and 1960s that society valued educating women at the university level but, even then, entering the workforce and actually staying in it after marriage and having children was considered an anomaly; it was a sign of having limited financial means or social support.

????Hence while freedom for women and minorities was proclaimed, the status quo was slow to change.

????Actual change means having to vigilantly put forth practices to enable people to exercise their freedoms, and that requires a combination of education and social practices, which will eradicate social norms.

????I'll be careful in stating that in Western societies, we finally believe in valuing education for women, but we now have to turn to social practices.