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Foundations of Computer Science are not redundant

1,046 Comments

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Anmol Singh
5 years ago

Foundational sciences and research deserve to be cared for and nurtured at educational institutions as they are the pillars for every practical field!

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Anonymous
5 years ago

Don't redundant

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Anonymous
5 years ago

Citizen of Change

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Alexander Leitsch
5 years ago

No science can live and survive without foundations. Taking away the foundations from computer science means not less than taking away science itself; what remains is some kind of computer technology on slippery ground. Measures to separate foundations from applications and declaring the former redundant mark a dramatic intellectual downfall in the scientific world. When we do something we should know what we do and why we are doing it - the foundations tell us. ``Highly theoretical and not directly linked with applications'' means that also George Boole's work is redundant and should be forgotten. The progress of science itself it at stake!

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Charlotte Griffiths
5 years ago

This is an absolutely crucial area of computer science, without it we wouldn't be where we are today.

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Walter Carnielli
5 years ago

"Applications" such as AI, data science, computational modelling, and digitalisation alone,  without logic,  analysis of algorithms, and foundations of software  will transform you into mere consumers of science, instead of  producers. A  tradition that had the privilege of having Thomas Hobbes, George Berkeley,  Isaac Newton ,  David Hume and  John Locke among other  great names cannot be so blind!

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Jin-Yi Cai
5 years ago

This is insane. Turing would turn in his grave.

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Ruy de Queiroz
5 years ago

Foundations of computer science is the basis for innovation in information technology

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Professor Bonnie Webber
5 years ago

No one seems to be arguing that all change is bad: Just that it is when it is based on false assumptions and a refusal to engage with all the relevant parties.

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Petrucio Viana
5 years ago

Basic science is the mother of applied science. In fact, this dichotomy is absurd.

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Amgelo Cangelosi
5 years ago

Fundamental computing is essential for AI+

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Bill Smyth
5 years ago

How did the management at Leicester attain their exalted positiions without any understanding of science? It is simply ridiculous to imagine that the foundations of ANY science can just be ignored: "AI" becomes all "artificial" and no "intelligence".

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Anonymous
5 years ago

Professor of Machine Learning, University of Edinburgh

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Bernd Souvignier
5 years ago

It is very short-sighted to force research to be directly linked to applications. The history of science is full of highly relevant applications that are based on theoretical results obtained entirely independent of possible applications.

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Leen Stougie
5 years ago

Without theory, science becomes merely statistics.

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Anonymous
5 years ago

I believe that Foundations are still important.

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Stefan Pickl
5 years ago

Greetings from Munich!

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Frédéric Magniez
5 years ago

Director of the Research Institute on the Foundations of Computer Science (IRIF), a research unit co-founded by CNRS and Université de Paris. Fundamental research is the cornerstone of any discovery. Impoverishing it means cutting off our society from future discoveries that could make it better. Teaching our students the scientific foundations means guaranteeing them a future in which they will be able to adapt, despite future technological breakthroughs.

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Igor Shparlinski
5 years ago

I hope these university does not produce civil engineers. They would be taught to forget about the useless foundation and start directly with the walls.

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Yasunori Osana
5 years ago

I'm a computer scientist working in a Japanese university. We always need fundamental research informatics and mathematics in any field of application.