I'd like to apologise to some of the creationists who have been posting above - no, we don't thinks you're stupid, or ignorant, and yes, many extremely clever people don't agree with evolution. (To nail my own colours to the mast, I'm both an atheist and an evolutionist). But we have a reason to get angry...
You see, science is without a doubt the most important thing humanity has ever conceived. When you look at how we stumbled through history, grasping at reason and often being held back by organised religion, you realise how science isn't self evident, or common sense. It took us thousands of years to develop it, and some of us feel we're slowly losing it again.
That's why my blood boils when I hear of people consulting astrologers or going to faith healers - because they're trampling on what the greatest minds in history bequethed us.
On a side note, to those religious who feel devalued by being related to 'mere' apes; go and actually read 'The Origin Of Species'. When you understand it, know that while you are still an ape, there is something profoundly different about you now. You are part of a select group, possibly even unique in the whole universe, who knows where they came from.
I didn't think there was a big difference between American and European colleges, but there seems to be. Here we don't have 'majors' and 'minors', and don't cherrypick courses from around the college to put together enough points to get a degree. If you pick CS, all you do is CS. Generally, you don't do much science, certainly no chemistry or biology. Also, you almost never share classes with anyone outside your degree, at least in the non-arts degrees.
We also have the problem of jobs 'requiring' CS degrees. Even simple tech-support positions seem to require an in-depth discrete maths background, apparently. Naturally, they claim there aren't enough personnel... what do they expect? CS degrees are hard to get, and generally after getting one, you want an interesting job.
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I'd like to apologise to some of the creationists who have been posting above - no, we don't thinks you're stupid, or ignorant, and yes, many extremely clever people don't agree with evolution. (To nail my own colours to the mast, I'm both an atheist and an evolutionist). But we have a reason to get angry...
You see, science is without a doubt the most important thing humanity has ever conceived. When you look at how we stumbled through history, grasping at reason and often being held back by organised religion, you realise how science isn't self evident, or common sense. It took us thousands of years to develop it, and some of us feel we're slowly losing it again.
That's why my blood boils when I hear of people consulting astrologers or going to faith healers - because they're trampling on what the greatest minds in history bequethed us.
On a side note, to those religious who feel devalued by being related to 'mere' apes; go and actually read 'The Origin Of Species'. When you understand it, know that while you are still an ape, there is something profoundly different about you now. You are part of a select group, possibly even unique in the whole universe, who knows where they came from.
MT
I didn't think there was a big difference between American and European colleges, but there seems to be.
Here we don't have 'majors' and 'minors', and don't cherrypick courses from around the college to put together enough points to get a degree. If you pick CS, all you do is CS. Generally, you don't do much science, certainly no chemistry or biology. Also, you almost never share classes with anyone outside your degree, at least in the non-arts degrees.
We also have the problem of jobs 'requiring' CS degrees. Even simple tech-support positions seem to require an in-depth discrete maths background, apparently. Naturally, they claim there aren't enough personnel... what do they expect? CS degrees are hard to get, and generally after getting one, you want an interesting job.