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I did a double major in Political Science and CS, and also several semesters of philosophy courses. I would agree that there is a roundedness in my education th

I did a double major in Political Science and CS, and also several semesters of philosophy courses. I would agree that there is a roundedness in my education that I don't perceive in my engineering peers -- like an interest in the minutiae of politics; pausing to ask abstract and esoteric questions. (Maybe that's just my personal bias to consider those things I do as being in the set of well-rounded behaviors.) Additionally, I don't feel that I struggle in understanding social situations and norms, not as much as the typical engineer. But also I feel at times that my CS knowledge is not as deep as it could be -- I am probably at or below average for CS majors in my theoretical understanding, despite having some major engineering accomplishments.

irahul 15y ago
> pausing to ask abstract and esoteric questions Is there something in CS that prevents CS majors from asking abstract questions? The CS I know has a large, abstract part and any and all concrete things you see today originated from abstract reasoning. Didn't Lisp originate from an abstract paper implementing a turing-complete machine from basic operators? This is the second post I am replying to which talks about insights and abstract questions which technical(or CS) people supposedly lack. It would really help to have a couple of concrete examples.
- jessedhillon 15y ago
  The abstractions that philosophy deals with have to do with things like the nature of knowledge and being. For some CS folks this comes as a natural extension of what they know -- thinking about daily experience categorically. If you consider the knowledge and abstraction capability it takes to design the schema for an app -- thinking about the knowledge in the system at a meta level -- philosophy is in some ways analogous to that. However, even if there was a perfectly obvious analogy between ontology in CS and philosophical ontology, I think that many engineers would still forgo thinking deeper about life. (Sorry, I know how condescending that sounds and I don't mean it that way.) > Is there something in CS that prevents CS majors from asking abstract questions? This type of response is annoying. Is there anything that prevents an eight-year-old from learning C and doing your job? Theoretically, no. Practically, yes. It's not the right question, because whether there or isn't something that prevents them from asking those questions, the perception is that they don't do it.
  - irahul 15y ago
    > thinking about the knowledge in the system at a meta level -- philosophy is in some ways analogous to that. That isn't what I was looking for. I was responding to "abstract and esoteric questions" and the implications that somehow CS people don't have the knack for the abstract. I am just saying that philosophy might or might not have abstract and esoteric questions(I don't know and don't care), but CS has them for sure and have had even since its genesis. > However, even if there was a perfectly obvious analogy between ontology in CS and philosophical ontology, Why would I care? How does this come into picture at all? I was responding to your abstract questions, which to me came out as somehow philosophy helps you understand CS better. If you didn't mean that, we aren't discussing the same topic. > I think that many engineers would still forgo thinking deeper about life. Again, how does this relate to philosophy and CS majors? And what is deep for me isn't necessarily deep for me. You might like pondering over if god exists and what's the meaning of existence. Sorry to sound condescending, but if that's what you meant about thinking deeper about life, that isn't deep enough for me. I have my personal belief system which changes based on my perception and that's good enough for me.
    - jessedhillon 15y ago
      > ...which to me came out as somehow philosophy helps you understand CS better. If you didn't mean that, we aren't discussing the same topic. Not what I said at all. From looking at your responses here and elsewhere on this post, it seems that you have difficulty accepting the idea that other fields of study might present skills that are not ordinarily available to a CS student. I'm sorry you've chosen to take offense -- and become defensive -- to the proposition that different majors offer different skills. This seems like it would be the wrong thread for you to participate in, since that is the fundamental assumption.
      - irahul 15y ago
        > From looking at your responses here and elsewhere on this post, it seems that you have difficulty accepting the idea that other fields of study might present skills that are not ordinarily available to a CS student. I have difficulty accepting the idea philosophy, humanities or any other discipline makes you more competent at CS than CS education itself. If philosophy taught you something valuable, good for you. It didn't teach you CS and didn't make you more competent at CS. You are the one who is having difficulty understanding that your abstract and esoteric questions aren't unique to philosophy, and things which are unique to philosophy don't add anything to make you more competent at CS. > This seems like it would be the wrong thread for you to participate in. This seems like unnecessary fluff. EDIT: On second thoughts, this really is the wrong thread for me to participate in. You keep editing your posts, not because you are correcting a typo or adding a new perspective, but based on if my post is downvoted or not. You use offensive language when my post is grayed, and delete that when it's not.

irahul 15y ago

> pausing to ask abstract and esoteric questions Is there something in CS that prevents CS majors from asking abstract questions? The CS I know has a large, abstract part and any and all concrete things you see today originated from abstract reasoning. Didn't Lisp originate from an abstract paper implementing a turing-complete machine from basic operators? This is the second post I am replying to which talks about insights and abstract questions which technical(or CS) people supposedly lack. It would really help to have a couple of concrete examples.

jessedhillon 15y ago
The abstractions that philosophy deals with have to do with things like the nature of knowledge and being. For some CS folks this comes as a natural extension of what they know -- thinking about daily experience categorically. If you consider the knowledge and abstraction capability it takes to design the schema for an app -- thinking about the knowledge in the system at a meta level -- philosophy is in some ways analogous to that. However, even if there was a perfectly obvious analogy between ontology in CS and philosophical ontology, I think that many engineers would still forgo thinking deeper about life. (Sorry, I know how condescending that sounds and I don't mean it that way.) > Is there something in CS that prevents CS majors from asking abstract questions? This type of response is annoying. Is there anything that prevents an eight-year-old from learning C and doing your job? Theoretically, no. Practically, yes. It's not the right question, because whether there or isn't something that prevents them from asking those questions, the perception is that they don't do it.
- irahul 15y ago
  > thinking about the knowledge in the system at a meta level -- philosophy is in some ways analogous to that. That isn't what I was looking for. I was responding to "abstract and esoteric questions" and the implications that somehow CS people don't have the knack for the abstract. I am just saying that philosophy might or might not have abstract and esoteric questions(I don't know and don't care), but CS has them for sure and have had even since its genesis. > However, even if there was a perfectly obvious analogy between ontology in CS and philosophical ontology, Why would I care? How does this come into picture at all? I was responding to your abstract questions, which to me came out as somehow philosophy helps you understand CS better. If you didn't mean that, we aren't discussing the same topic. > I think that many engineers would still forgo thinking deeper about life. Again, how does this relate to philosophy and CS majors? And what is deep for me isn't necessarily deep for me. You might like pondering over if god exists and what's the meaning of existence. Sorry to sound condescending, but if that's what you meant about thinking deeper about life, that isn't deep enough for me. I have my personal belief system which changes based on my perception and that's good enough for me.
  - jessedhillon 15y ago
    > ...which to me came out as somehow philosophy helps you understand CS better. If you didn't mean that, we aren't discussing the same topic. Not what I said at all. From looking at your responses here and elsewhere on this post, it seems that you have difficulty accepting the idea that other fields of study might present skills that are not ordinarily available to a CS student. I'm sorry you've chosen to take offense -- and become defensive -- to the proposition that different majors offer different skills. This seems like it would be the wrong thread for you to participate in, since that is the fundamental assumption.
    - irahul 15y ago
      > From looking at your responses here and elsewhere on this post, it seems that you have difficulty accepting the idea that other fields of study might present skills that are not ordinarily available to a CS student. I have difficulty accepting the idea philosophy, humanities or any other discipline makes you more competent at CS than CS education itself. If philosophy taught you something valuable, good for you. It didn't teach you CS and didn't make you more competent at CS. You are the one who is having difficulty understanding that your abstract and esoteric questions aren't unique to philosophy, and things which are unique to philosophy don't add anything to make you more competent at CS. > This seems like it would be the wrong thread for you to participate in. This seems like unnecessary fluff. EDIT: On second thoughts, this really is the wrong thread for me to participate in. You keep editing your posts, not because you are correcting a typo or adding a new perspective, but based on if my post is downvoted or not. You use offensive language when my post is grayed, and delete that when it's not.