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Application development is a blended skill and computer science is not the only discipline involved. CS is a mathematical science, not a liberal arts topic. Th
by spacemanmatt 4y ago
Application development is a blended skill and computer science is not the only discipline involved.
CS is a mathematical science, not a liberal arts topic. This author is way off base.
- curt15 4y agoMathematics itself is half science and half art.
- samarama 4y agoMathematics is the most science and least art form possible. Every other field of study has more artsiness than Mathematics. However, Mathematics also still has a lot of artsiness to it.
- apocadam 4y agoGood, he did not have enough imagination to become a mathematician. [Upon hearing that one of his students had dropped out to study poetry] - David Hilbert
- samarama 4y agoDo you have an example of an academic field of study that is less of an art and more structured than Mathematics?
- eimrine 4y agoTotally disagree. Mathematics is not a science at all because there is no any possible experiments in the Math fields. And remember what David Hilbert has told about one of his students who decided to go into arts instead of keep learning Math with him. He told "he did not have enough imagination to become a mathematician".
- yesenadam 4y ago> there is no any possible experiments in the Math fields. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_mathematics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_mathematics Worth googling too, a wide range of things come up: https://www.google.com/search?q=experimental+mathematics https://www.google.com/search?q=experimental+mathematics
- eimrine 4y agoExperimental mathematics is not a field of mathematics, but an approach. In the link you have given I found two approaches called experimental mathematics: proofing theorems by computer contrary to proofing with a pensil, and searching new problems contrary to solving some existing ones.
- yesenadam 4y agoI was responding to your apparent claim that experimentation is not possible in mathematics. Maybe I misunderstood what you meant. From Halmos' quote from the wiki page: "Mathematics is not a deductive science—that's a cliché. When you try to prove a theorem, you don't just list the hypotheses, and then start to reason. What you do is trial and error, experimentation, guesswork. You want to find out what the facts are, and what you do is in that respect similar to what a laboratory technician does" - it sure sounds like he thinks experiment/experimentation a key part of maths.
- Burner7799 4y agoWhat evidence would convince you that mathematics is empirical? If your argument was a tautology then what’s the point? Would you consider interactive theorem proving to be empirical or not? The sort of experiment you perform is you try to see if the computer accepts your proof or not.
- sudosysgen 4y agoInteractive theorem proving is not an experiment on nature because the theorem priver is itself a mathematical construct.
- spacemanmatt 4y agoI feel like we have a better definition of math than we do of art. Thus it's a lot easier to accurately declare a thing is not math, than it is to accurately declare a thing is not art.
- eimrine 4y agoDo you have any better definition of math then "that what mathematicians do"?
- Burner7799 4y agoSurely that is the best definition possible? Defining is what humans do. To ask for a better definition of “defining” seems like a dead end question. Perhaps asking why humans do what they do yields better answers?
- eimrine 4y ago> Surely that is the best definition possible? Obviously the best one which has appeared in this topic. > Defining is what humans do. Some computer programs can do defining also, so I do not recommend you to go to some fields of an absurd. > Perhaps asking why humans do what they do yields better answers? I think the answer will be "because they can", but I have asked HN just. Let's see, what answers will this question yield? [1] [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31457736 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31457736
- curt15 4y agoWilliam Thurston described mathematics as part psychology [1]. [1] https://mathoverflow.net/a/44213 https://mathoverflow.net/a/44213
- spacemanmatt 4y agoAgreed, and as such, mathematics rightly belongs to the colleges of natural science. Are you trying to conflate natural science with liberal arts? I might be confused by your comment.
- Burner7799 4y agoHe is trying to erase the distinction when talking about mathematics specifically because it leads you to question your own biases. Mathematics is neither liberal arts nor natural science. Mathematics is a liberal art. Mathematics is a natural science. Mathematics is both liberal arts and natural science. Which is the “correct” classification of Mathematics is the sort of pointless quarrel that happens at universities. There is no right answer - the purpose is to argue and understand all biases/positions. The purpose is respectful human interaction around unresolvable differences.
- lthornberry 4y ago"Liberal arts" is not a synonym for "humanities." I am a college professor; the majority of students at all the schools I've been affiliated get a liberal arts degree. This includes math majors, physics majors, etc. And even the historians and philosophers are generally required to take math and science courses as part of their liberal arts degrees. "Liberal arts" refers to a tradition of education across the major disciplines. It is distinguished precisely by the fact that it includes both the sciences and the humanities.
- spacemanmatt 4y agoThank you for pointing this out. I do prefer to be more accurate than I was.
- dehrmann 4y agoTell that to all the Berkeley CS BAs.
- robertoandred 4y agoMath and science are liberal arts.