Russ,
I seem to have confounded two issues, here: Is Engineering ever a science, and is software engineering in any sense a science? Will we ever converge on the Best Way To Build A Bridge? And, Is Software engineering like bridge-building? I guess that in bridge building there are certain harsh realities to which we must conform. Are there any harsh realities to which software engineering must conform? What are they? Does having to conform to harsh realities make an activity a science?
“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?” [I bet you nobody on this list knows the origin of that quote without looking it up.]
Nick
Nicholas Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology
Clark University
https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/
From: Friam <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of Russ Abbott
Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2020 12:36 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] alternative response
"Science" is generally defined as the study of the natural world. If we take that to exclude man-made artifacts and processes, software engineering (by definition) is not a science.
-- Russ Abbott
Professor, Computer Science
California State University, Los Angeles
On Sun, Jun 14, 2020 at 11:27 AM Marcus Daniels <[hidden email]> wrote:
< So, software engineering is not a science. It’s a culture? There is no right or wrong about it? >
In practice, it is a culture. People cling to their beliefs and their habits, like the racists do. Attempts to intervene cause a lot of turmoil. Intervention sometimes seems urgent, but really it is probably better to avoid these cultures.
Marcus
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