Bikeshedding Working Group ~lucidiot, Ed. Bikeshed-Draft Bikeshedding Microsystems Intended status: Informational July 20, 2022 Expires: January 20, 2023 Proposed Reclassification of Computer Science as a Field of Geology draft-geology-00 Abstract This document argues for the reclassification of computer science as a field of geology by demonstrating a relation of causality between both, and demonstrates the potential positive consequences this can have on both fields. Status of This Memo This Bikeshed-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79. Bikeshed-Drafts are working documents of the Bikeshedding Microsystems Working Task Force (BM-WTF). Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Bikeshed-Drafts. The list of current Bikeshed-Drafts does not exist. Bikeshed-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Bikeshed-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." This Bikeshed-Draft will expire on January 20, 2023. Copyright Notice Copyright (c) 2022 Bikeshedding Microsystems and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved. This document is subject to BCP 78 and the Bikeshedding Microsystems' Legal Provisions Relating to Bikeshedding Documents in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. ~lucidiot Expires January 20, 2023 [Page 1] Bikeshed-Draft Computer Science as a field of Geology July 2022 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ..................................................2 1.1. Notational Conventions ..................................2 2. Computer Science Requires Geology .............................3 3. Influence of Computer Science on Geology ......................3 4. Consequences of Computer Science as a Field of Geology ........4 5. Conclusion ....................................................5 6. Security Considerations .......................................5 7. Internationalization Considerations ...........................5 8. Privacy Considerations ........................................5 9. Interoperability Considerations ...............................6 10. Morality Considerations .......................................6 10.1. Likelihood of misuse by depraved or sick individuals ...6 10.2. Likelihood of misuse by misguided individuals ..........6 10.3. Likelihood of misuse by large, multi-national corporations ............................................6 10.4. Availability of oversight facilities ...................6 10.5. Inter-SDO impact .......................................7 10.6. Care and concern for avian carriers ....................7 11. BANANA Considerations .........................................7 12. References ....................................................7 Appendix A. Warranty Exclusion Statement ...........................8 Acknowledgements ...................................................8 Author's Address ...................................................8 1. Introduction It has come to my attention, through a discussion with some inhabitants in the city hall of the Town of Tildes, that Computer Science should be reclassified as a field of applied geology. In this essay, we will first demonstrate the existence of a relationship between computer science and geology, then demonstrate a relation of causality, discuss why computer science can be made a field of geology, and finally show how making the link between geology and computer science official can prove beneficial to the scientific community. 1.1. Notational Conventions The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document MUST be interpreted as described in BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here. The key words "MUST (BUT WE KNOW YOU WON'T)", "SHOULD CONSIDER", "REALLY SHOULD NOT", "OUGHT TO", "WOULD PROBABLY", "MAY WISH TO", "COULD", "POSSIBLE", and "MIGHT" in this document MUST be interpreted as described in [RFC6919] (BUT WE KNOW YOU WON'T). ~lucidiot Expires January 20, 2023 [Page 2] Bikeshed-Draft Computer Science as a field of Geology July 2022 2. Computer Science Requires Geology The core part of all modern computers or microcontrollers is the transistor, which relies on semiconductors. The most common semiconductor material used in transistors is highly purified silicon. 15% of all the silicon production is transformed to reach the levels of purity required for semiconductors, and most silicon is produced from reducing quartzite or sand with highly pure coke. Quartzite is a type of rock, sand is just crushed rocks, and coke comes from heating up coal or oil without air. Both coal and oil are found in the ground and their study belongs to geology. Computers are also built using other metals, such as iron, copper or gold, which are all obtained from digging the ground as Minecraft taught us. Circuit boards are made of slices of copper and slices of an epoxy resin; the most common material is FR-4, a mix of glass fiber and epoxy resin. Glass fiber is made of glass, which is made of silicon. Epoxy resins are of many types but almost all of them come from petroleum-derived materials (plant-based materials are slowly coming in but those are not going to get really far thanks to lobbies). Computers are therefore made of rocks. Identifying those rocks is a requirement to obtaining all the raw materials used to produce computer parts, making geology a core requirement for Computer Science to exist. 3. Influence of Computer Science on Geology Computational physics have benefited to large fields of physics, including some that can affect geology, such as fluid dynamics or solid-state physics. Computer-aided design (CAD) and automation in general have enabled the development of industrial robots. CAD has increased the quality of geological instruments, and robots have increased their quantity and lowered their costs, enabling geologists to acquire measurements of higher quality more easily. Geographical information systems (GIS), computational topology, satellite-based positioning systems such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) have increased the accuracy of all measurements and enable studying the Earth's crust at a much larger scale. The field of geomodeling was born from the newly acquired data, using computer science to model the Earth's crust. Geomodeling contributes to geology at all scales: the studies of rock mechanics, thermochronology, hydrogeology, crustal dynamics, mantle convection, seismology, plate tectonics, the geo dynamo theory, etc. have all shown advancements thanks to computer-based analysis. ~lucidiot Expires January 20, 2023 [Page 3] Bikeshed-Draft Computer Science as a field of Geology July 2022 Computer science heavily contributes to the study of other planets, in particular by enabling continuous improvements in telescopes and enabling the development of satellites and space exploration in general. This in turn has contributed to research by planetary geologists. Computer science has both directly and indirectly accelerated geological research, sometimes causing entirely new fields of study to appear. Applied geology, as well as the application of other interdisciplinary fields in which geology is involved such as material science, in turn allow computer hardware to develop and further help geology grow, forming a virtuous cycle. 4. Consequences of Computer Science as a Field of Geology When students think of working with computers, they mostly think of writing code, which is a fraction of software engineering. It is only after they enrolled in a software engineering course, in which they were told they would learn to code, that they might have a small possibility of learning about other fields with which a software engineer might interact with. Since those courses are often labeled "Computer Science", the field of software engineering alone is assumed to be computer science, when it is only one of the multiple fields of applied computer science. This causes a common questioning in the software engineering industry of the notion of computer science: is it a real science, when it is only an engineering field? Making computer science a field of geology will likely cause a lot of attention in the media, which through proper communication can be focused on the significant difference between computer science and software engineering. Further, we believe that geologists not involved in interdisciplinary fields involving computer science are computer users; they lack the required knowledge, or the learned helplessness over the state of the computer industry, to not see software engineers as evil beings, and they simultaneously have the required knowledge to understand what computer science truly is and distinguish it from software engineering. Their insistence can help make a difference in software engineering courses and reverse the trend of mislabeling computer science in the software engineering industry. This change can have a financial impact for universities and research institutes, as merging computer science and geology departments, facilities or organizations can reduce costs. The reputation of geology, which can sometimes be seen as something boring as it gets reduced to the mere study of some rocks, can be enhanced by making it part of the digital revolution we are experiencing these days. ~lucidiot Expires January 20, 2023 [Page 4] Bikeshed-Draft Computer Science as a field of Geology July 2022 The reputation of computers and computer science can also be improved thanks to new puns: instead of "computer bad", "computer rocks". With the ongoing trend of legalizing recreative uses of cannabis, this can also encourage computer scientists and engineers to get stoned, leading to an overall increase in happiness with the field. Finally, this change can increase the interactions between geology and computer science; this can further accelerate the virtuous cycle that makes geology and computer science both contribute to each other's progression, and is likely to lead to groundbreaking research. 5. Conclusion We have shown that geology, by the study of rocks, led to computers and computer science. Furthermore, computer science is still today relying heavily on knowledge acquired from geology, and it has also enabled significant improvements in geology. Officially making computer science a field of geology can contribute to the reputation and progression of both fields, give a financial help to research institutions, and solve issues in the computer industry. We therefore encourage the scientific community at large to consider making computer science a field of geology. 6. Security Considerations Reclassifying computer science as a field of geology can contribute to overall security in the field by making software rock solid. 7. Internationalization Considerations Both geologists and computer scientists have existed all over the world, speaking many languages and sharing their knowledge with each other. Computer scientists also like to bikeshed with each other, while geologists are less prone to this behavior. Making computer science a field of geology could therefore help Bikeshedding Microsystems reach even further into markets outside of Western Europe and North America, enhancing our internationalization. 8. Privacy Considerations Thanks to the help of geologists, computer scientists will be able to erect high quality stonewalling to field any questioning by attackers, enhancing the currently quite poor protections against social engineering attacks in the workplace. 9. Interoperability Considerations The overall goal of this standard is to enhance interoperability between geologists and computer scientists. However, shall this goal not be achieved in a satisfying manner, interoperability issues will ~lucidiot Expires January 20, 2023 [Page 5] Bikeshed-Draft Computer Science as a field of Geology July 2022 be as always left up to the Protocol Police [RFC8962]. 10. Morality Considerations This section contains morality considerations consistent with the demands of [RFC4041]. 10.1. Likelihood of misuse by depraved or sick individuals Reclassifying computer science as a field of geology should not have a significant influence on the ability to share immoral images over the network, except through a possible enhancement of overall network transfer time and bandwidth as described in Section 10.6. 10.2. Likelihood of misuse by misguided individuals Rocks can represent some danger when not manipulated properly, as they can have sharp edges or be extremely heavy. It is RECOMMENDED that geologists keep untrained computer scientists away from their sample storage rooms or from working on the field with them, as to avoid any risk of them causing themselves harm. 10.3. Likelihood of misuse by large, multi-national corporations Computers are more and more often affected by planned obsolescence and other cost-saving or revenue-generating morally dubious operations. Geology could contribute to making them more solid, by encouraging the use of various types of rocks. However, it is well known that all profit-driven institutions will use any opportunity they could have, however immoral they can be, to increase profits. It is likely that geologists could get blamed by large, multi- national corporations for the actions that those corporations took, not the geologists. Additionally, using more rocks implies mining, which is already currently done in terrible working conditions by underpaid workers in developing countries. The Lobbying Department of Bikeshedding Microsystems SHALL therefore take action to ensure politicians are aware any issues that could be occurring after the enactment of the proposed reclassification, and that they are properly encouraged to act on them. 10.4. Availability of oversight facilities As most of the interactions between computer science and geology will occur through public events, conferences, research papers in the public domain, or just through non-confidential conversations within academic institutions, any relevant authorities will be able to oversee the integration of computer science within geology and apply any measures they deem necessary. ~lucidiot Expires January 20, 2023 [Page 6] Bikeshed-Draft Computer Science as a field of Geology July 2022 10.5. Inter-SDO impact It is possible that other standards organizations show their opposition to the integration of computer science as a field of geology, be it because of their animosity towards Bikeshedding Microsystems due to commercial competition or due to reasonable concerns. Bikeshedding Microsystems is willing to discuss any reasonable concerns with other standards organizations, and is open to reassessing its opinions or deepen the arguments presented in this document, in order to ensure a smooth, global and complete merger between both scientific fields. As for standard defining organizations that have no reason to refute this evolution of science solely out of spite, Bikeshedding Microsystems will gladly engage in any anti-competitive practices its Lobbying, Marketing and Corporate Spying departments will allow. 10.6. Care and concern for avian carriers Both geology and computer science already have an important influence over birbs, as it can influence their routing, either through BGP or by changing the winds or the obstacles along the way while transporting IP packets. By forcing both fields to work together, we expect that enhancements could be made in how fast avian carriers can travel between two network appliances, and how much energy it requires them. This can improve response times and bandwidth, as well as reduce the costs of deploying new long-distance routes as birbs will need less rest when traveling over those. Packet loss can also be improved with routes that are easier to fly on. Further improvements in the management of avian carriers could be made by a later merging with the fields of ornithology, to better understand how birbs behave, or civil engineering, for larger scale changes to the large rock structures along Internet routes. 11. BANANA Considerations As bananas are not classified as a mineral or have any part in a geological process, the BANANA is not affected by the reclassification of computer science as a field of geology. 12. References [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997, . ~lucidiot Expires January 20, 2023 [Page 7] Bikeshed-Draft Computer Science as a field of Geology July 2022 [RFC4041] Farrel, A., "Requirements for Morality Sections in Routing Area Drafts", RFC 4041, DOI 10.17487/RFC4041, April 1 2005, . [RFC6919] Barnes, R., Kent, S., and E. Rescorla, "Further Key Words for Use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", RFC 6919, DOI 10.17487/RFC6919, April 1 2013, . [RFC8174] Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC 2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174, May 2017, . [RFC8962] Grover, G., ten Oever, N., Cath, C., Sahib, S., "Establishing the Protocol Police", RFC 8962, DOI 10.17487/RFC8962, April 1 2021, . Appendix A. Warranty Exclusion Statement This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS" basis and M455.CASA DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Acknowledgements The author would like to thank ~nihilazo, ~indigo and ~lown for participating in the preliminary research and wordplays that led to this essay, as well as ~durrendal for their review. Author's Address ~lucidiot (editor) Bikeshedding Microsystems m455.casa 138.197.184.222 The Internet Email: lucidiot@brainshit.fr URI: https://tilde.town/~lucidiot/ ~lucidiot Expires January 20, 2023 [Page 8]