The Spirituality Of Computer Science

Pam: Remember, I was in college back before everyone grew up on computers and the Internet didn’t even exist. But I knew they’d be important in the future so I signed up for a computer class.

Ann: Heck, when I was in school, “keyboarding” was still “typing class”.

Pam: Well this course was designed to give non-geeks a general overview of computers and how they work. The big draw was that the students in this class were actually going to work on a real computer.

Ann:Ooooooh! Impressive.

Pam: Alright, enough with the wisecracks. So on the first day we all went to the computer lab to get on a computer and fill out an information form about ourselves. It requested basic information, name, major, that kind of stuff. The last question was, “Why did you sign up for this class?”

Ann: What’d you put?

Pam: The basic canned answer. How computers were going to play a critical role in the future of all careers. I finished with, “And I believe it’s important to have a general knowledge of computers to be a well-rounded citizen.”

Ann: Yep...that’s a pretty canned answer.

Pam: So on the first test day we’re all assembled in the lecture hall and the professor announces that each of us will earn up to ten bonus points on the test based on our answer to his “Why did you take this course?” question.

Ann: Wow, I bet you wished you’d given it a lot more thought then. I’m sure everyone put pretty much what you did.

Pam: That’s what I figured. Then the next week when the tests were returned, the professor announced that only one student was given the full ten bonus points and congratulated me for my creativity as he handed me my paper.

Ann: That lame answer earned you the only full bonus points given in the class?

Pam: I was surprised too. So I looked at my test and the professor had written, “Bonus points = 10. Way to think outside the box! I’m a spiritual man myself. Keep up the good work.”

Ann: Outside the box? Spiritual? Something doesn’t add up. Did you get back the wrong paper?

Pam: No, it was mine. But what had happened was that somehow either I screwed up or the computer did, and my whole answer was wiped out except for the last three letters of the last word, “citizen”. I received full bonus points for saying the reason I signed up for his course was “ZEN”!