Yes, but not as the author describes it. The author has a very narrow and circumscribed view of liberal arts. Going back to the beginnings:
The “liberal” in Liberal Arts comes from liberate. The arts that free the soul. In its original formulation it had the trivium (rhetoric, grammar, logic) and the quadrivium (geometry, astronomy, music, arithmetic). People like the author commonly associate the whole project with a narrow subset. Well rounded does not just mean we eliminated math from the ciriculum. It should be obvious to most people here that computer science is essential for this in the modern age.
Computer science is a liberal arts degree
21–30 of 158 posts
Re: Computer science is a liberal arts degree
#22Application 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.
Mathematics itself is half science and half art.
Re: Computer science is a liberal arts degree
#23I think we should leave comp sci as what it is. > The bulk of software work today is about integrating computation into human driven tasks, predicting and anticipating how people think, what they need, how they react to new communication and work methods Sure. But that is not what comp sci is about. If one wants better programmers then those aspect should be put in a different, more job focused, degrees like Software…
University is purely about compliance for whatever destination that requires this compliance (research or private industry).
In theory it would be better if people do a degree that is relevant to what they want to do but it is employers and the "herd" (the critical mass of people that have the most common/important credential in that industry) that decide which credential to pursue. In other words, degrees are purely about doing something someone else would like you to be doing.
In my opinion all the wishy washy "there must be some understandable reason for this" or "degrees aren't just about jobs" arguments are only there to detract and confuse people and make them have doubts instead of making rational decisions and getting on with their lives. The bullshit becomes bearable the moment you are fully convinced it is bullshit. If you are on the edge and have doubts that it isn't bullshit enjoy suffering through 5 irrational years while believing they are rational.
Re: Computer science is a liberal arts degree
#24Quoted post unavailable.
In the “woke” world of computation this sentence is false. And the previous sentence is true. The liar’s paradox, decidability and undecidability (being core ideas in computer science) directly imply that it is scientifically undecidable what a man; or a woman is. Those are (in fact) questions for the liberal arts department and broader society, and the answers are usually settled by social convention and democratic…
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Re: Computer science is a liberal arts degree
#25Application 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.
Mathematics itself is half science and half art.
Mathematics 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.
Re: Computer science is a liberal arts degree
#26Application 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.
Mathematics itself is half science and half art.
Agreed, 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.
Re: Computer science is a liberal arts degree
#27CS is not a science, certainly not mathematics, it is not about 'seeking the deeper beauty of our [for mathematics: any] reality'.
CS is not engineering, not much actual science or working principles get applied for most of the work done.
CS is design, but design of a 4D artifact, something that moves in time and space, not just 3D. To make things more tractable, we do this in discreet space, not continuous space, which brings its own qualities and issues (e.g. non-locality - there is no underlying strata based on nearness).
Design is concerned also with the who and the why, rather than just the what and the how. Hence a broad education is helpful.
Re: Computer science is a liberal arts degree
#28CS is liberal arts because software is used by humans? By that standard pretty much any degree qualifies as liberal arts, including medicine, engineering, law,...
Tbf, that kind of thinking actually goes back to the origins of medieval universities, so there is some case to be made (a lot of universities still award BAs for pretty much every subject). But I guess the true intention here is to lower the barrier in technical terms for claiming CS degrees and SE salaries.
Re: Computer science is a liberal arts degree
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mathematics itself is half science and half art.
Mathematics 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.
Good, 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
Re: Computer science is a liberal arts degree
#30Quoted post unavailable.
In the “woke” world of computation this sentence is false. And the previous sentence is true. The liar’s paradox, decidability and undecidability (being core ideas in computer science) directly imply that it is scientifically undecidable what a man; or a woman is. Those are (in fact) questions for the liberal arts department and broader society, and the answers are usually settled by social convention and democratic…
Your comment is confusingly written. I have no idea what you’re talking about, or what sentences you are referring to.
Also, you’ll collect a lot more downvotes now that you’re obnoxiously talking about your downvotes.