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Why you should quit your technology job and get a Ph.D. in the humanities

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Re: Why you should quit your technology job and get a Ph.D. in the humanities

#11

Post by timr »

zdw wrote: post #2

I see a humanities degree as nothing less than a rite of passage to intellectual adulthood. A way of evolving from a sophomoric wonderer and critic into a rounded, open, and engaged intellectual citizen. This is somewhat insulting to to those of us who, despite being "sophmoric" technologists, are actually quite well rounded.

"This is somewhat insulting to to those of us who, despite being "sophmoric" technologists, are actually quite well rounded."

Only if you commit the logical fallacy of assuming that "a way" means "the only way". Saying that X is a way of getting to Y does not imply that !X is not a way of getting to Y.

Said differently: there are lots of different rites of passage in our world, and they're not universal. Jewish people see the Bat/Bar Mitzvah as a rite of passage to adulthood; Catholics have confirmation; certain young girls have debutante balls. This guy thinks a liberal arts degree is one particular rite of passage, and it's no more or less insulting than any of the others.

Re: Why you should quit your technology job and get a Ph.D. in the humanities

#12

Post by Jach »

jobeirne wrote: post #7

To a young undergraduate, frustrated with the lack of rapid progress on tough philosophical questions, AI seemed like the great hope, the panacea—the escape from the frustrations of thinking. Yeah, that'll go away in short order after taking a few AI classes.

It might also give you a clear insight on so-called tough philosophical questions.

Re: Why you should quit your technology job and get a Ph.D. in the humanities

#14

Post by zinkem »

timr wrote: post #11
zdw wrote: post #2

I see a humanities degree as nothing less than a rite of passage to intellectual adulthood. A way of evolving from a sophomoric wonderer and critic into a rounded, open, and engaged intellectual citizen. This is somewhat insulting to to those of us who, despite being "sophmoric" technologists, are actually quite well rounded.

"This is somewhat insulting to to those of us who, despite being "sophmoric" technologists, are actually quite well rounded." Only if you commit the logical fallacy of assuming that "a way" means "the only way" . Saying that X is a way of getting to Y does not imply that !X is not a way of getting to Y. Said differently: there are lots of different rites of passage in our world, and they're not universal. Jewish peop…

I think the term "rite of passage" may have prompted the response. A rite of passage is generally something that every member of a culture (or subculture) goes through to get from X to Y.

Re: Why you should quit your technology job and get a Ph.D. in the humanities

#15

Post by karamazov »

gruseom wrote: post #6
phyllotaxis wrote: post #4

The sentiment is unimpeachable- but the advice isn't. Get the education, and the perspective that come with it- absolutely. But it doesn't require a retreat to academia for several years to gain it anymore. The internet is the collective knowledge and experience of all humanity. To seek this information is wise and wonderful- but I respectfully suggest that dropping ones life to go back to school, chained anew in deb…

I don't see the internet as a source of wisdom, or even knowledge, depending on what one means by the word. Information, certainly. But the mental habits that the internet as a mass medium fosters are antithetical to study and reflection. I love the internet, not least because of the ease with which I can obtain information that used to take hours in the library. But obtaining specific facts is not the same thing as…

It all depends on what you view with the Internet, just like the quality of a life spent with books depends on exactly what books you're reading. If all you read is romance novels, you won't be stimulating yourself adequately; the same is true online. If you choose to access only brief news articles and simulator entries, for example, you may learn a lot; but you won't stretch your mind.

Every now and again read something difficult; something that makes you think and leaves you confused. You'll learn more in the long run. A great place start, if you happen to be interested in math, is Terence Tao's blog, and a number of the blogs he links to. (At the least, I find it challenging; the blog is over at http://terrytao.wordpress.com/ .)

Re: Why you should quit your technology job and get a Ph.D. in the humanities

#16

Post by dfc »

I have a lot of friends who are in the middle of their dissertations or freshly minted philosophy PhDs. From what they tell me the job market for philosophy profs is awful; in fact the job market for any professorial (tenure track mainly but also non-tenure) positions in the humanities is not a lot better.

Re: Why you should quit your technology job and get a Ph.D. in the humanities

#17

Post by lsb »

As one who's gotten a Master's in Classics, I can say that my timeline for reference is about 3000 years, and more if I think about Egyptian papryri, and Indo-European Poetics. Most technical people have a timeline of only about 50 to 75 years, maximum, and it's quite a beneficial change of perspective.

Re: Why you should quit your technology job and get a Ph.D. in the humanities

#18

Post by simonsarris »

Man this guy seems to take his train of thought to a bit of an extreme.

"Hard distinctions make bad philosophy" - John McCarthy (inventor of Lisp, coined the term "AI")

I did both. I got a degree in Computer Science and Philosophy. I loved it. But I didn't have to do something drastic to get there. I enjoy humanities greatly, so I incorporated them into my study along with technology.

Re: Why you should quit your technology job and get a Ph.D. in the humanities

#19

Post by Retric »

Jach wrote: post #12
jobeirne wrote: post #7

To a young undergraduate, frustrated with the lack of rapid progress on tough philosophical questions, AI seemed like the great hope, the panacea—the escape from the frustrations of thinking. Yeah, that'll go away in short order after taking a few AI classes.

It might also give you a clear insight on so-called tough philosophical questions.

Yea, after studding AI I find most philosophical debate boring. There may be interesting areas in philosophy outside arguing about unspecified definitions but I have not found any.

Consider the Chinese room argument, where is the brain? It's the arrangement of all the players and their rule sets. What is consciousness, it's their internal state etc.

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