Poll
Question:
Do you think that Computer Science is a real science?
Option 1: Yes
votes: 11
Option 2: No
votes: 2
Option 3: Sort of (Explain)
votes: 0
This will probably turn out to be an interesting debate. In my Chemistry class the topic of defining "science" came up and so did the issue of "False" or "Soft" sciences. On the chopping block (among others) was Psychology and Computer Science. Since this is largely a programming community, I wondered what you all think about Computer Science being pushed out of the "real sciences" category by most Chemists/Biologists/Physicists/etc. Have at it guys.
[Edit] Spelling
!~!HaZaRD!~!
See science (http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=science)
Clearly, psychology and computer science are both sciences. They are not however natural sciences (http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=natural+science)
See how much time you can save by looking up the word in a dictionary ;)
Apparently "natural science" is the type of science your chemistry believed was "real" science; science that deals with objectively measurable phenomena.
Way to kill a thread Adron!
Those are definitions, I'm about 90% sure that most science teachers would disagree... However I don't see how it can't be a science.
err.. I'm 100% sure that any science teacher who knew how to use a dictionary wouldn't disagree...
Quote from: Arta[vL] on August 14, 2003, 08:59 AM
err.. I'm 100% sure that any science teacher who knew how to use a dictionary wouldn't disagree...
I'm 100% sure that while you're 100% sure, you're 100% wrong. At least once science teacher somewhere doesn't agree with 100% of definitions printed in 100% of dictionaries.
Quote from: Grok on August 14, 2003, 11:01 AM
Quote from: Arta[vL] on August 14, 2003, 08:59 AM
err.. I'm 100% sure that any science teacher who knew how to use a dictionary wouldn't disagree...
I'm 100% sure that while you're 100% sure, you're 100% wrong. At least once science teacher somewhere doesn't agree with 100% of definitions printed in 100% of dictionaries.
I'm 100% sure that he meant he was 100% sure of any
one science teacher picked from them all. The propability is so high I'm 99.999999% sure that it would be rounded to 100%. In addition to, not all science teachers know anything about what they teach.
Definitions can be tricky things, especially if you're President and your wife is an attorney:
"It depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is. If the--if he--if "is" means is and never has been, that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement."
--William Jefferson Clinton, August 17, 1998
What statement did that refer to? "Is" typically does mean present, not past...
And yes, I think I did a good job at killing this debate. One way of resurrecting it would've been to find other dictionaries that did not agree with that definition of science and natural science. I'm not so sure there is one though...
Btw, j0k3r, are those "science teachers" "natural science teachers", or just "science teachers" (i.e. psychology teachers/computer science teachers) ?