If you are a painter, you don't need to know chemical formulas for the pigments you're using to have a direct touch to your creation.
For me, that material conciousness in computers was always in grasping the way system works holistically. To feel the system. To treat it as almost a living organism.
I would argue as a painter some knowledge of chemicas is VERY important. For example, do you need oil based or latex paint for a specific surface? Is it indoor, or outdoor? Do you need primer on that surface or not? If its metal, do you need rust converter first?
For me, that material conciousness in computers was always in grasping the way system works holistically. To feel the system. To treat it as almost a living organism.