The concept of a \"language\" is actually a bit more fluid than we tend to give it credit for. Sure, there are \"human\" languages like English, Spanish, and Chinese (we suppose), but really a language is just a way to communicate. We\'re totally on board with anyone and anything that promotes better communication and, just as importantly, better understanding of others via communication. It\'s really the main reason why we do what we do, so we were pleased to see a short post from former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold advocating learning Chinese along with \"computer languages\", noting that \"having an understanding of how computers work as well as a curiosity about how to tap into their future potential will be important\". The same can (and has) be said for other cultures, via language acquisition! Here\'s the article:

My initial response to this question was, “Chinese!” I was only half joking. English is the most popular second language in the world and in our increasingly connected world, the people who have an understanding of other languages—particularly Chinese—will be better equipped.

As far as computers go, I studied computer languages in school and even though I wish I had studied different “human” languages, I think understanding computer languages will become even more important in the future, since computers are the universal tools of our time. Practically every aspect of our lives has a computer of some sort embedded into it. Having an understanding of how computers work as well as a curiosity about how to tap into their future potential will be important.

This need is especially true when you consider all of the potential applications that could be created to help us better understand biology and how the world works. We are living in an age where information technology and computing are driving the economy, and I predict computer-driven advances in synthetic biology promise to be even potentially more dramatic for the balance of the century.