What’s wrong with CS research
2nd August 2007
UR. The inimitable Mencius Moldbug has some interesting things to say about the field of “computer science”, a field composed of academics who suddenly woke up one day and realized that the employment prospects for math majors were not all that better than those for English majors and that they’d have to get a Real Job, like, soon.
So here’s the first thing that’s wrong with CS research: there’s no such thing as CS research. First, there is no such thing as “computer science.” Except for a few performance tests and the occasional usability study, nothing any CS researcher does has anything to do with the Scientific Method. Second, there is no such thing as “research.” Any activity which is not obviously productive can be described as “research.” The word is entirely meaningless. All just semantics, of course, but it’s hardly a good sign that even the name is fraudulent.
“Computer Science” is like “gender studies”, a way for people who want to play for a living can get funding from governments and other people who ought to know better.
The reason why CS research produces so little that can be called creative programming these days is that the modern process of grant-funded research is fundamentally incompatible with the task of writing interesting, cool and relevant software. Rather, its goal is to produce publications and careers, and it’s very good at that.
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