Tom Armitage's short radio programme argues that learning to write computer code means learning to think in a modern way, and that it should spur creativity: the possibility of doing entirely new things.
This reminds me of a group discussion I had earlier in the year where I was extolling the virtues of having learnt to program. I was (somewhat passionately) explaining that it had given me new ways to look at the world and had proven useful in many more ways than simply providing me with a career.
I then stated my belief that all children could benefit from this, but I was interrupted mid-flow by someone who said that they could not think of anything worse than forcing all children to think in this way.
I have to admit that I was shocked into silence at this point, but it has bugged me ever since.
I think the position that they were coming from was that they believed that learning logical thought would somehow rob children of their creativity. As if learning is part of some zero-sum game that means that becoming a programmer would not leave space for artistic freedom.
I clearly do not think this is the case -- it simply adds another capability to your mental toolbox. In exactly the same way that learning to use a drill doesn't mean that you forget how to use a paintbrush!
Tom Armitage makes this point very well in this talk, along with several others about the differences of view of what it means to 'learn to code'. Well worth a listen.