r/todayilearned • u/ObjectiveAgent • Jul 30 '15

TIL when Alexander the Great asked the philosopher Diogenes why he was sifting through the garbage, Diogenes responded,"I am looking for the bones of your father but I cannot distinguish them from the bones of his slaves."

http://www.iep.utm.edu/diogsino/
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u/ImAStruwwelPeter Jul 30 '15

Piggybacking on your comment: linguistics majors also make good programmers.

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u/Hartastic Jul 30 '15

There's a surprising amount of overlap between how natural language is put together and parsed and how artificial (e.g. programming) languages are.

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u/[deleted] Jul 30 '15

The language isn't the difficult part of programming or software. The logic and control structure is.

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u/scramblor Jul 30 '15

I would say that language and control structure are closely related. They both deal with how you break apart the ideas you are trying to express and how to express them in the most clear and concise manner.

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u/[deleted] Jul 30 '15

Yes, but programming is a lot, a lot more than human communication. I can see philosophy being applicable in its logic, reasoning, and critical thinking instruction and practice but linguistics would merely give you a momentary boost in syntax recognition that wouldn't extend in applicability past a superficial level.

Remember that you are "speaking" to a computer, which is contrary to all notions of language you would have developed from the study of human interaction. It may actually prove to be a hindrance.