re: is cs the new art degree?
I saw this post by blackentropy, and I thought it was a really interesting thing to think about. I had previously not heard of anyone saying this, but I believe it.
However, I feel like joining in the discussion because I find a few points a bit weak and to me, they actually seem to prove a similarity to art degrees or unnecessarily put down art degrees.
Blackentropy writes:
“Unlike art degrees, CS isn’t inherently a low-opportunity field. The demand for skilled engineers is still massive. It’s just that "skilled" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. A CS degree alone won’t get you far anymore—you need to prove you’ve got the chops. And honestly, I think that’s fair. The industry rewards competence, not participation.”
I would disagree that art is inherently a low-opportunity field. I guess when people think of art degrees, they are probably imagining some artist drawing on a canvas or a digital artist working on 5 dollar furry commissions on X. But art is around us everywhere - ads and all kinds of other marketing needs them, digital games, physical games, animated movies and shows, UI designers for software, icons, company logos, tattoo art, stock art for articles and blog posts, books, magazines and comics, cars...
Digital games alone are a billion dollar industry, and now think of all the art used in trading card games and board games. They are needed everywhere; the only reason it may seem low-opportunity is the same oversaturation other markets experience and because we live in a society that values knowledge work and MINT higher than creative work. That also means lower pay, and people cannot afford to or want to be exploited, which is why they might struggle to find an art job that pays the bills. This is nothing inherent to art careers though.
A part of it is simply also gendered: The devaluing of artistic work happens because it’s seen as a woman-dominated field. Many other careers and fields have been increasing in value or decreasing in value based on the perception of what gender is primarily enrolling or working in it. CS has only ever increased in value since computing stopped being perceived as a woman’s job1.
Blackentropy writes:
Unlike art, where job markets are genuinely limited, CS has opportunities if you put in the work to stand out. Sure, not everyone will succeed. But that’s true in any competitive field. The difference is that CS still has a much higher ceiling for those who put in the effort.
I see no reason why CS is has no genuine limit in the same form art job markets have. Most companies can only hire so many CS people, and most cannot pay what FAANG pays. Layoffs and less VC spending has gripped a lot of tech companies. Many, especially if in game development or other deadline based work, are hired for a limited amount of time similar to designers and artists. Similar to artists, CS people can be threatened with AI.
At the same time, I see no reason why there is no high ceiling for art for those who put in the effort. Artists are one of the most hardworking people I know - constantly practicing, constantly working with references, booking courses, watching tutorials, building a massive portfolio. As someone who both pursued coding and art in the past (specifically, 3D prop design in games), my experience is that you can grind leetcode and become really good at programming languages by sheer cramming and learning stuff by heart - it’ll get you a job and it can get you through your daily tasks and now you can even bullshit with AI and not just Stackoverflow! - but what artists have to do as a bare minimum to get hired is not only hone their craft always improving further and building a massive portfolio, they also have to have industry connections, build their own style to stick out from others, build a brand, build a following, and do their own marketing online and more - and most cannot bullshit with AI. The ceiling is non-existent to how much work you can put in.
My final input is this: I don’t think it’s worthwhile to compare these, and I also think that even if CS was similarly seen as an art degree, many people would not be comfortable admitting it because of the negative image art degrees have not due to it’s nature - we consume art daily, after all - but due to gender bias.
Published 21 Nov, 2024