One of my favorite YouTube channels, Domain of Science, released a brand new video: Map of Computer Science. And it’s amazing.
Channel’s Purpose
The channel caught my interest a few months ago when they started releasing fully comprehensive surveys of modern scientific study. For an individual interested in the pursuit of science and knowledge this is the exact type of content you yearn for. Now, for many of their other mapping videos, such as mathematics and physics, many of the discussed sub-fields I had no idea about other than the fact they existed. The brief explanation that the narrator adds on each subject helps the viewer understand the general purpose and it’s connections to other sub-fields. This relational teaching style is unfortunately often neglected in formal education. For individuals looking for possible career paths or passions, all they have to do is watch the video and pause it the moment their mouth drops or head tilts with curiosity. I highly suggest subscribing to the channel, their content is clear, concise, and beautifully graphical.
Map of Computer Science
This most recent video made me quite happy. It’s one thing to go to university, take all the mandatory classes, and attempt to piece together the segmented material. It’s a whole other thing to see them all together on one map. I linked it to my university’s computer science Facebook page, and it was the first time I posted there. You can kinda tell how much I liked it just by that. The reason I loved it so much is that I had been planning on making some sort of similar content, but knew I’d never be able to do so as professionally. (I sorta started with the For What it’s Worth: My College Education post) Stepping though each part of the video, I felt confident in my knowledge of the subject area and that I’d be able to talk about it for hours. In fact, I did so with my parents. This video reinforced my education as a computer engineer. Having such a great breadth of knowledge in a huge, ever-growing field as computer science is something I truly treasure. I feel that my bachelors degree program achieved an educational level of success unrecognized to me and many other graduates. With videos like this, computer engineers/scientists can more or less examine their personal knowledge scope. For some students it’s not important to know all the theory and history. But for student’s like me, it’s vital to learn about the field from day one to present and every single subject in between. Not until every piece is visualized can the full picture be understood. Confidence in one’s previous knowledge is essential in the pursuit of learning, and this video gave me confidence. Now a choice needs to be made, focus on a single sub-field and become an expert, or use my breadth to achieve advancements outside the field. Unfortunately, I can’t just flip a coin on that one.