Bullshit degrees

Metaverseguy: Here's a quick list of bullshit majors. You know majors people pick just so they can say they have a diploma, but that are quite worthless without a masters or doctorate:

liberal arts
business administration
political science
accounting
theatre
communications
art
english

anyone care to add to the list?

Geoff: Actually - I know a couple of people with degrees in English who make a damned good living with their language skills. But even they admit that they were lucky there.

Most of the people I know who read Philosophy tend to wind up behind the counter at Starbucks though.

//Edit - late night typo.

Metaverseguy: I know 2 philosophy majors. One is working as a waiter and the other works in my office. I think they probably understood their careers weren't going to make them filthy rich or be able to do anything of philosophical value. What could they possibly due? Be a professor or write a book? Gimme a break there's no more philosophical questions that need to be answered that haven't been done in the past 2,000 years.

Stephen Hawking was right. "Philosophy is dead."

AlishaLucky: Over here, if you're unemployed, you're likely to have a bachelor of journalism.

Captain Canada: Another Brick In the Wall by Pink Floyd are maybe somewhat making sense today.
Education and no jobs

wildrose62: It's a mark of our society that so few place any value on education in philosophy. All leaders should have to have a doctorate in philosophy and literature, to understand how past great leaders have thought.We let our children waste time in "subjects" such as designing computer games, when they cannot do basic mathematics and often know so little about their own country's history that they could be mistaken for foreigners.
Just because there are no jobs in a subject does not mean that it is unworthy of study. In the past, mentors kept great artists fed and housed. We have degenerated into a race where our potential great musicians and painters, our philosophers and inventors must take whatever work they can to keep going. How can one ever hope to achieve greatness in a society so lacking in foresight that the aim of tertiary education seems to be to achieve the highest possible pay packet instead of the highest levels of insight and knowledge?

Geoff: Actually, all world leaders should have a degree in history, so they know not to attempt stupid things like invading Afghanistan.

Metaverseguy: wildrose62: Read the encyclopedia. A lot of great artists, writers, and musicians that we hear about today struggled a lot in their own time, sometimes with illness, almost always with money, typically with relationships, sometimes in their careers, and occasionally their depression or insanity could be seen in their work.

wildrose62: Cplus, you're missing my point.... I'm talking about what we VALUE. I realise many people we think of as great or talented in their fields had to struggle, but it was a mark of many of the great civilisations that they valued and supported people of talent and wisdom. Philosophy isn't dead, it's just that this generations great philosophers are driving cabs to pay their mortgage, our great composers are waiting tables for minimum wage and our great educators are stifled by set curriculum and standardised testing, leaving no room for originality or unique interpretation. About two years ago, one of the world's greatest inventors died without the world knowing how brilliant he was.... why? Because his invention would have destabilised economies dependent on oil revenue and potentially cut carbon emissions from cars by 75%. His majors? Science and Philosophy.

CoIin: Q : How do you get a philosopher off your front porch?

Ans : Pay for the pizza

Metaverseguy: Bereft and without hope I'm sure many of us have turned to philosophy for answers when religion and/or porn failed, but do we really need any more artists - specifically painters? I can't count the number of times I've cursed when I see this new age art junk like cubism or surrealism. Hey buddy, just paint us a picture of a bowl of fruit or a pretty bridge that I could capture better with a digital camera and we'll call it a day, alright?

RBBaileyJr: Actually, a degree in english comes in handy in Japan, if a career in teaching is for you.

ghostgeek: Accounting is a worthless degree? Surely, it's a fast track to a boring job.

Metaverseguy: There are more degrees in the boiling point of water, than are hanging on your walls, Horatio.

ghostgeek: Sure are. Damn boring things to look at.

kittyfriendly: You can add psychology to the list. With psychology, just make sure you have a doctorate degree.

Metaverseguy: It's difficult to even find employment in the STEM fields. I'm wondering if I should give up looking for a career and start looking at starting my own business and taking out subsidies. I could create a business so efficient that the other companies would lose clients like The Sandman lost his form when wet, then they would have to sell off their assets immediately and have to take out loans to avoid bankruptcy.

kittyfriendly: Sounds good. Starting your own business and being your own boss, that is the way to go. Let me know how that works out.

ghostgeek: Done that. Hard work and piss-poor pay. When you fall on your arse nobody picks you up.

kittyfriendly: Lol---- awwww, yeah tough world.

Comandante FiLTH: Most study to get a job. Employment is the emphasis for most, with little emphasis on studying subjects for enjoyment or something that you find interesting and want to get a deeper understanding of.
A person should start off with a basic understanding of many fields and map out whether they want to further it. If their goal is for qualifications to get a job (though this isn't guaranteed) then they should look at the market (example in some countries studying English and having a degree in English will be an advantage while in others it's not) and reason out if in the future that field will meet their goal. If their goal is the satisfaction of gaining insight into a field then they should have a plan B on how they'll finance themselves.

Psychology and Philosophy seem to be subjects a person can learn in their spare time through books as an interest vs struggling to study it as a career path.

It'd be very cool if all lectures in every university were placed as free videos. Some are not all though.

ghostgeek: Not all university lectures are worth listening to. I saw one being copied out of a book before it was delivered. Read the book and forget the lecture.

Comandante FiLTH: The option will be there to choose which will be worth listening to. There are some lectures that add to what a student read, as well as what you mention those that are best to bypass and read direct from texts.
I think that we're living in a good Age. One where more knowledge is available and of course with that a person should be cautious on sources that are not reputable.

ghostgeek: The amount of knowledge available is overwhelming. No human being can hope to get to grips with it all. The secret to education is finding a few good sources and sticking with them. Keep it simple.

wildrose62: So how do you tell a good source from a bad one when choosing classes? Good lecturers set readings to be completed before tutorials and as a prerequisite to a full understanding of lectures, but it's unlikely you'd be able to pick these from others at the beginning. A good lecture will not be limited to what is already available in books, but will expand on that knowledge, whilst tutorials will test the student's ability to apply and adapt the knowledge they have gained. Most lecturers will be using at least one of their own books as a set text. Of course, once you find the ones who seem to be teaching you something insightful and which adds to your knowledge and understanding of the subject, you could choose all their classes.
Sticking to a few good sources sounds good in theory, but it could limit you. I'd recommend reading widely, and from as varied a range of information as possible, decide for yourself if what you've learned is relevant, useful, or even correct. Ideas change, but knowledge of what was behind the change in thought can be valuable in understanding the process or evolution of ideas, and help us adapt to new information as it becomes available. The secret to education is not just to understand current theories, but to understand how those theories came to be, how they have evolved and why.

ghostgeek: Where I went I never got to choose classes, the programme was set from the beginning. I had to attend all lectures, which I did, and all seminars. A long reading list was issued at the beginning but it was never expected that we would read everything on it. Reading widely is good advice, if one has the time. Time though always seemed in short supply, hence the need to focus on texts that proved the most relevant.