Computation as Liberal Art

Computation is a kind of universal solvent. In studying computation, you are not simply thinking about the nature of for-loops, or data structures, or databases. By taking the nature of computation seriously, you are able to interrogate the nature of language and how humans think, as well as the limits of mathematics. Insights into computation address profound aspects of biology or even philosophy. When we model the world in silico, simulation can help us think about the complex nature of how we build scientific models, or even reality itself. And dwelling on computation also draws in the humanities, whether it’s literary analysis and biblical studies, or code as magic, the history of ideas, or even Greek mythology.

Computation has the ability to provide a uniquely unifying framework, exerting a massive centripetal force on ideas and fields of knowledge. We must nurture its connective power. So what is the field that focuses on this power, one that is essentially a mashup of computer science, the humanities, and a sprinkling of the sciences both natural and social? It might be what I termed logismics. Or we could simply refer to it as humanistic computation, or even the liberal art of computing. But whatever we call it, this page is designed to act as a resource (and living syllabus) for exploring this burgeoning field.

(text adapted from my essay "Computation as Philology")

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The Humanistic Computation Project is a continuing project. If you would like something to be included in it, please contact Samuel Arbesman.

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By Samuel Arbesman (see all lists). Page style adapted from Brendan Schlagel's canonize.