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Considering that software is entirely artificial, I would argue that disciplines in the physical sciences are likely much more difficult when it comes to breaki

Considering that software is entirely artificial, I would argue that disciplines in the physical sciences are likely much more difficult when it comes to breaking new ground or discovering novel technologies and solutions to longstanding problems. Just think about how little progress has been made in solving complex issues like climate change, curing diseases or securing sustainable food supplies. These are incredibly challenging, real-world problems. In contrast, software engineering often comes down to rearranging data—it’s powerful, but not always as fundamentally complex as tackling the physical world's hardest issues.

yummypaint 2y ago
Technologically speaking, climate change, world hunger, poverty, peace, etc are all solved problems already. Unfortunately these aren't technical problems. They are social, political, and economic in nature. The world has had the means to globally end poverty and hunger for decades, but we haven't. We know exactly and quantitatively what is needed to meet climate goals, but we won't do it. Groups of people who have been murdering each other for generations could choose to stop tomorrow and live in peace forever after, but they refuse. These are as far from technological problems as one can get.
computerdork 2y ago
Agree that physical sciences, on one aspect, are inherently more difficult, Especially in research, the problems are more difficult to solve because they are limited by the physical world. But also think that is what makes dev work so difficult, because our "build times" are so short. Because we aren't limited by the real world, we can build our entire system often in seconds and then test them, which allows us to move fast and generate enormous amounts of complexity. While with physical sciences, during an experiment, the "build time" for their tests is typically much slower, often taking hours or days, so they can only deal with a limited number of variables and information at once. Also think that is what makes software engineers often good at working in other technical domains, we have a lot techniques and hands on experience in dealing with large complex systems, much of which carries over to non-software problems... (... but my saying this is admittedly half theoretical, because personally, haven't actually applied this to an actual science field, only to things like small construction projects and to the field of music theory, and yeah, super helpful)

yummypaint 2y ago

Technologically speaking, climate change, world hunger, poverty, peace, etc are all solved problems already. Unfortunately these aren't technical problems. They are social, political, and economic in nature. The world has had the means to globally end poverty and hunger for decades, but we haven't. We know exactly and quantitatively what is needed to meet climate goals, but we won't do it. Groups of people who have been murdering each other for generations could choose to stop tomorrow and live in peace forever after, but they refuse. These are as far from technological problems as one can get.

computerdork 2y ago

Agree that physical sciences, on one aspect, are inherently more difficult, Especially in research, the problems are more difficult to solve because they are limited by the physical world. But also think that is what makes dev work so difficult, because our "build times" are so short. Because we aren't limited by the real world, we can build our entire system often in seconds and then test them, which allows us to move fast and generate enormous amounts of complexity. While with physical sciences, during an experiment, the "build time" for their tests is typically much slower, often taking hours or days, so they can only deal with a limited number of variables and information at once. Also think that is what makes software engineers often good at working in other technical domains, we have a lot techniques and hands on experience in dealing with large complex systems, much of which carries over to non-software problems... (... but my saying this is admittedly half theoretical, because personally, haven't actually applied this to an actual science field, only to things like small construction projects and to the field of music theory, and yeah, super helpful)