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MrHen comments on On the Fence? Major in CS - Less Wrong
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Whoa... you are suggesting that everyone else do what you didn't and the reasoning is a list of ideas with no data? No offense, but how do I know this is not a grass-is-greener, I-wish-I-would-have moment?
I would beware of other-optimizing. As soon as I graduated with a CS degree I realized I should have been in philosophy the whole time. I love my CS major and agree that it is an excellent choice and do not regret the work I put into the process. I also agree with your points. But choosing a major is not a small thing that should be tilted by a post based on anecdotal evidence from someone who didn't do it.
After watching math and physics majors struggle in CS101 I realized that CS is not an intuitive field for everyone. They were not stupid or lazy people. They just didn't "get it". You can graduate with a CS degree and never "get it" and not know jack shit about coding, systems, or any of the other great things you mentioned. I learned about those things. But right now I am working with someone who graduated with a CS degree and did not.
This isn't meant to be a rain-on-your-parade comment; I just want to warn the bloke who reads this post and thinks, "God, math is that useless? I guess I will go CS." The key part in your post they may have skimmed over is this:
If you are passionately in love with your field, go for it. If you are not, find a different field. CS is not something everyone can fall in love with and think about in the shower and over lunch and drifting off to sleep. Neither is Math, Physics, Engineering, Psychology...
I am very successful in my secret identity life, so no, this is not some kind of grass-is-greener observation; rather, it's an attempt to give practical advice to my younger selves out there. I majored in math and physics, and did well, and am in the world now, and can concretely see the ways that a CS education would have helped me, ways that people less smart than I am think better!
I'm comparing CS only to other technical majors.
I'm not proposing CS as an academic discipline, but as a discipline for training the mind for work in the world.
Do I know the intricate details of every reader's intellectual life? Do I claim that everyone who's currently majoring in math or econ drop it and switch to CS?
To quote Robin:
Fair enough. I just wanted to be sure. :)
This matches my experience. I was a CS major for a bit but ended up graduating with a degree in philosophy. It was much more relevant, even to working in computing.
Thirded. I completed half of my degree in CS before switching to Philosophy. I'm finding it significantly more stimulating. I don't think I learned anything in my CS classes that I couldn't easily have taught myself (and had more fun doing so).