Why Should You Learn Computer Science Instead of Other Professions?
Why should one learn computer science? Originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Computer science is a crucial domain of knowledge for our current times. A few thoughts on why:
Information Explosion and The Digital Era.
It’s no surprise that computer use within our civilization has exploded exponentially within the last few years. Today, pretty much every human domain -education, health, industry, entertainment, you name it- is made better, safer, or even possible at all, thanks to advances in information technology and the underlying computer science that drives the knowledge forward. Don’t just think computers and software applications, but consider every device, every human process, every instrument, directly affected by technology.
Industry Displacement by Computer Technology
What did Uber do for the transportation industry. Netflix or iTunes for show business. Photoshop for photography or Coursera for academia. Whatever you make of these innovations and the millions around them, the industries they are infecting are irreversibly transformed.
Global Information Accessibility
Imagine a world when a message takes 4 months to reach America from Europe. Now imagine a world when the same message takes a heartbeat, and realize that computer science made it possible. Did I say global? how nearsighted of me. Imagine a star system in which a computerized device live streams its approach and flyby around a dwarf planet, to its host planet 4 billion miles away…
Tech-Fueled Innovation Driving Global Economies and World Challenges
Our civilization is at an historic crossroads when our biggest challenges -global hunger, climate change, water shortage, etc- can be overcome by our brightest minds relying among other things on our ever-forwarding computer technology. Simulation modelling, predictions, parallel processing, labour reducing computers and software are among the strongest tools in our arsenal for survival, no less.
Bonus: Biology and The Language of Life!
One of the most wondrous modern realizations that dawned upon us, was the discovery that our genetic information is coded into digitally distinct, three-character packets from a quaternary system, a four letter alphabet that scripts out our DNA. Do you know which field of study kicks ass in performing computations for any base-n system? Suddenly and unexpectedly, decades of computer science research could be immediately applied towards understanding our genetic scripture and unlocking the mysteries of evolution and the origins of life.
Computer science is the evolved branch of mathematics that provides the foundation for all the magnificent achievements of human discovery, exploration, progress and prosperity that have radically transformed our quality of life and understanding of our universe in mere decades. Whatever the future holds for us, whatever human endeavors await to be undertaken, you can bet computer science will continue to play at center stage.
Contributed by Jose Maldonado, Works at ProcessMaker
