Re:Coursera shuts access to old platform courses
by Jtsummers on Saturday June 11, 2016 @12:41AM
(#11882106)
Synthesis. To a point you're right. A lot of this may just be education porn. But a greater breadth and depth of knowledge permits synthesis. Computer science, computing in general, is one of the greatest examples of synthesis.
Starting with mathematics, the a theoretical machine, augmented by a language hierarchy gleaned from linguistics, with models based in real biological and physical systems. Even today's hotness in machine learning with ANNs is founded in an attempt to understand intelligence based on the physical structure of the mind.
Perhaps much of this can be recreated without being exposed to mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, philosophy, linguistics, and other fields. But I imagine the insights needed to develop the first ANN model, the first language designed around a CFG would've taken far longer to develop in that narrow worldview.
Starting with mathematics, the a theoretical machine, augmented by a language hierarchy gleaned from linguistics, with models based in real biological and physical systems. Even today's hotness in machine learning with ANNs is founded in an attempt to understand intelligence based on the physical structure of the mind.
Perhaps much of this can be recreated without being exposed to mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, philosophy, linguistics, and other fields. But I imagine the insights needed to develop the first ANN model, the first language designed around a CFG would've taken far longer to develop in that narrow worldview.