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Against CS Education June 25, 2021 Let me state at the outset that studying computer science is a sure-fire road to financial prosperity. CS isn’t going anywhere, people need programmers, and as software gets more complex more code-monkeys need to maintain it. If you are the type who solely views education as a means to wealth then this essay won’t make much sense. If, however, you view education as the way to edu- cate yourself in the holistic sense then know that ded- icating your limited free time to computer science will result in an incredibly unfulfilled and depressed life. Recognize that CS doesn’t actually teach you any- thing. The furthest one could go is to claim they know how to think through problems logically. But even this is a stretch because computer science allows one to think 1 2 logically only about other computer science problems. There is no tangible or realistic relevance to the real world. After 4 years, your understanding of the world does not increase one bit since after all, all you know how to do at the end of it is to give instructions to a computer. (This does not negate the utility CS creates in the world. It would be factually incorrect to state oth- erwise, since we can point to spheres of life positively affected by CS.1 ) If after 4 years one finds himself to not know any- more about the world than he originally did then this will undoubtedly lead to feelings of unfulfillment, re- gret and remorse. Regret will be especially painful since those 4 years can not come back — what is lost is lost for eternity. Before we offer a solution, it is important to under- stand what we mean by knowing more about the world. This has become a fangled cliche nowadays and thus requires a proper discussion. Knowing more about the world does not mean traveling the world to rack up life experiences, the memories and emotions of which fade away with old age. Knowing more about the world en- tails knowing how the world works. Why do certain people speak or think a certain away, dress a certain style, transact like this, eat like that, believe in this God, 1 Whether or not technology makes the world on the whole a better place is arguable 3 or hate on this race.2 These things typically find their expression in books, art, travel, meeting people, discus- sion, and pondering to name a few. They have their equivalences in formulated areas of study like politics, economics, anthropology, history, religion, linguistics, and philosophy among others. CS doesn’t provide any of that. If you want to know why Israel and Palestine are currently at war, what ef- fect Bitcoin has on the economy, or why the West is an increasingly secular society then studying CS will only magnify your ignorance. The complexity of these top- ics increase everyday while your ignorance of the basic working pieces compounds due to your preoccupation with learning how to increase cache hits from the CPU. Nevertheless, we recognize that the modern world has transformed from a primarily agrarian land-owning society to a skill-based society. Specialization is almost necessary in order to find decent paying work to live a comfortable life. Majoring in history or world religions may expand your mental horizon but will surely shrink your wallet. This is not a practical way to go about one’s life Therefore we offer a practical double-pronged ap- proach to education. On the one hand we recommend majoring or minoring in CS to the minimum extent that is necessary to find employment. This entails spending 2 This isn’t exhaustive but hopefully points to the general idea 4 minimal time outside of class on CS related activities, taking the easiest courses your university offers, and graduating with the baseline requirements fulfilled.3 On the other hand, with the extra time that is now avail- able to you, busy yourself with classes that will teach you something, join organizations that will help you learn about people, and best of all read books. Con- sume books like your life depends on it, but don’t read everything. The vast majority of new fiction amounts to nothing more than entertainment. Read the good stuff, the classics, and find out what other intelligent people are reading. If you do these things then perhaps your education was not a tremendous waste of time and you may actually have something interesting to say about the world. 3 An internship in your junior year is probably all you need