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The only thing that can stop this asteroid is your liberal arts degree

mcsweeneys.net

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Re: The only thing that can stop this asteroid is your liberal arts degree

#23

Post by endtime »

mattmanser wrote: post #5

Do we really need physicists? What have they done apart from give us ever increasing ways of destroying ourselves. Has quantum theory brought happiness to the world? Love? Peace? Has it helped you feel more connected to your neighbours, to the person on the bus or tube? Has it had any meaningful positive effect at all on the human condition? Or is it and its ilk of science degrees merely a relentless march to the day…

I'm assuming you're trolling, but on the off chance you're not - grandiose, self-congratulatory BS like your comment is exactly why articles like this get written.

Re: The only thing that can stop this asteroid is your liberal arts degree

#25

Post by balding_n_tired »

Ah, Grinnell, alma mater of Robert Noyce.

Actually, I'm not sure what the point is. The fantasies with which underemployed recent BAs make the 40 hours pass? A take-off on the brand of thriller in which Joe Normal gets sucked into international (or interplanetary) intrigue and danger? Revenge for the balderdash the author was forced to write last year?

But wasn't the lead in _The Eiger Sanction_ an art history professor who did CIA hits in the off-season to support his Picasso habit? Yeah, Clint Eastwood's a bit long in the tooth, but I'd back him against Bruce Willis for asteroid destruction any day of the week. (Cf. _Space Cowboys_, another profound exploration of the human spirit.)

Re: The only thing that can stop this asteroid is your liberal arts degree

#26

Post by anonjon »

Why do people in engineering/scientific fields get a free pass make fun of my philosophy degree?

I'm getting kind of tired of hearing jokes about how I should be working at McDonald's and that because I have a non-science degree I can never contribute anything to society. That's bullshit.

I'm in a masters program right now for computer science, and that it is a ton easier than the bachelor's in philosophy was.

My first thought is that these people majored in the sciences because they were terrible at abstract thought and could never work beyond memorizing equations. These people are useless as they will never make the breakthroughs that the greatest scientists have made. (Einstein's approach to relativity included plenty of mathematics and science, but it was also based in thought experiments).

Secondarily, people have a tendency to mock and belittle anything that they don't understand. By definition, they do not understand most areas of the liberal arts (too abstract). So you get shit like this thread.

The original article was quite good, however.

Re: The only thing that can stop this asteroid is your liberal arts degree

#27

Post by olefoo »

hga wrote: post #2

The less polite original title: " The Only Thing That Can Stop This Asteroid Is Your Liberal Arts Degree ". Unfair since plenty of those with liberal arts degrees contribute to society in a way we geeks value, but still amusing.

There are a fair number of geeks who were liberal arts majors in their earlier years. It's not a crippling setback. In fact it can be an asset when you need to communicate densely abstract technical topics to those of a decidedly nontechnical background.

I've met a fair number of philosophy and language majors who are programmers, web designers or system administrators. And a number of them have much greater mental flexibility than someone who got a four year CS degree for the job prospects but have never demonstrated any great degree of intellectual curiosity.

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