CSC165 concepts in other classes

CSC165 concepts have been appearing my other classes.

In CSC148, it was no surprise to see some of the ideas of improving code efficiency in our first-year programming class. It is a large part of our final project to improve efficiency for our programs. It is helpful to have a theoretical definition of big O when making these improvements.

I was surprised to find concepts of computability in PHL240: Persons, Minds and Bodies, a metaphysical class with a focus on human identity and consciousness, a course I am taking solely to fulfill a breadth requirement. In this class we learned there is a theory of mind called functionalism. Using concepts of computability from Alan Turing, functionalists believe that our mind is like a Turing machine, and operates much like a computer program. Our mind is in various mental states at any time, and any mental state can be explained by what inputs cause such a state, and what mental states and outputs are caused by such a state. This is likely the closest this abstract, metaphysical class will be relatable to someone studying computer science.