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What's worth studying? (intellectual content / bullsh*t ratios) (pg. 2)
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| TranceOwnsLol |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
Guhhhhhh, I am not talking about being a code monkey or trying to be the next Bill Gates. Programming is good, but the theoretical side of computer science is elegant and amazing. CS is about so much more than just learning to tell machines what to do. |
I actually am taking computer science as a subject for IB (sorta like American AP classes, but better :)) which is basically programming and there was another option which was just IT which is all the theoretical knowledge. (which to me, is bull)
There's only so much IT knowledge can help you in getting jobs since basically everyone who does computer science knows the gist of it. It's creativeness and innovation in the actual programming which gets you anywhere in making money. |
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| Zild |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
Guhhhhhh, I am not talking about being a code monkey or trying to be the next Bill Gates. Programming is good, but the theoretical side of computer science is elegant and amazing. CS is about so much more than just learning to tell machines what to do. |
they don't understand you are talking about startups and the efficiency of a computer as a tool set in the hands of a skilled user |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by MeLLyMeL
Lira what do you think you would have majored in if you had chose something different?? interesting story. |
I'd either have fought my parents and moved to São Paulo, in order to graduate in linguistics right from the start, or I'd have picked psychology here in Brasília (and I believe I'd eventually move to psycholinguistics from there). Philosophy would only make sense after meeting my fiancée (and spending some time here on TA).
Either way, I'd have chosen a course based on my real interests, rather than because of the circumstances. Also, I'd go for the bigger departments, where you can get more opportunities and it's harder to be trapped by the staggering politics of academic life. |
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| Krypton |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
http://www.paulgraham.com/college.html
I'm not really looking for advice, as I've already spent many thousands of dollars on getting a BA in a subject that would be close to the bottom of such a graph -- philosophy. Too late to do much about that now, although I still kick myself about it anyway sometimes. I'm finally starting to agree with Graham's assessment of the intellectual content / bull ratio in various fields of study. I should have been a math and CS major.
Oh well, I'm going to study that stuff as much as I can whenever I'm away from whatever menial job my philosophy degree gets me. Anyone else make educational mistakes or have further thoughts? |
What jobs does a philosophy major get you? |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| quote: | Originally posted by Krypton
What jobs does a philosophy major get you? |
Can you guys talk about anything other than work? LOL. I already said I'm not interested in advice about career prospects... |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by Krypton
What jobs does a philosophy major get you? |
I've read stories about MA's in philosophy getting jobs in companies as ethical advisers, so there's one possibility out of the academic life. |
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| Krypton |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
Can you guys talk about anything other than work? LOL. I already said I'm not interested in advice about career prospects... |
I'm not giving you advice ninja editor..;) |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
Can you guys talk about anything other than work? LOL. I already said I'm not interested in advice about career prospects... |
It's hard to avoid that, Mr. Furninator, education nowadays is a servant for the job market, so learning for the sake of knowledge is not really part of the discourse (even if it's just as a hobby). |
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| DJ Damerchi |
EDIT: misread your post-you are not looking for advice...
Myself, I went into Uni with one sure goal, to not go into business man./commerce. In high school I was surrounded by a culture that was obsessed with business management that heavily negated the liberal arts course of study. It must have been over 50 percent in my graduating class that went into business.
The moneyhungry business-major pandemonium was so intense that it was the last thing I wanted to do. I did a first year of various liberal arts courses, but when came to picking a major, I had a tough time. I went through the same thing you are going through. I felt that it was mostly subjects I could read at my own will, at my own pace, just for the sake of being interested in the subject rather than getting accredited. I took a year and a half off and came back to the middleeast to explore some opportunities in the kurdish political atmosphere. Now I am resuming this fall as a second year, majoring in Economics, and If I can really start to enjoy the math side I might consider applied economics, which consists of lot of econometrics based classes. I haven't taken a math course since AP cal over 2 years ago, so I am a little nervous at this change-perhaps math is not like riding a bike?
I chose this area of study because If I finish, I have some oppurtunities in Iraq to look forward to as one possibility(a much more exciting prospect than pencil pushing in some cubicle). Personally, I prefer political science and history a little bit more, but my interest in Economics is ever growing, especially after this last year. Its a good general foundation as I see it, to go into graduate studies in many different areas if I am still interested in academia at that point in time.
and no, Econ DOES NOT EQUAL Business Studies! |
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| AnotherWay83 |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
Guhhhhhh, I am not talking about being a code monkey or trying to be the next Bill Gates. Programming is good, but the theoretical side of computer science is elegant and amazing. CS is about so much more than just learning to tell machines what to do. |
eggzacklee. i used to be under the same impression, that CS = writing code all day.
computer science is really about problem solving, figuring out if computers can even solve problems, algorithms, AI, so much more. programming is actually at the bottom of the rung i would say, after the really cool and challenging parts have been figured out! |
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| Krypton |
| A business major is probably the most versatile, useful, degree anyone can get. |
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