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The revenge of the philosophy majors

nytimes.com

31–40 of 292 posts

Re: The revenge of the philosophy majors

#31
> “Where are they, the great next philosophers, the equivalents of Kant or Wittgenstein or even Aristotle?” the DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis wondered on a podcast last year.

According to (later) Wittgenstein, philosophy is basically a bad habit that needs breaking.

Re: The revenge of the philosophy majors

#32

When I was in college, a philosophy degree was seen as excellent training for a career in Law.

Both professions require writing detailed, overly specific, reasonably watertight arguments that will be read by only a handful of people, so that tracks

Re: The revenge of the philosophy majors

#33

I studied analytic philosophy, which is basically an education in how to clarify your thoughts, say what you mean in precise terms, and make clear arguments. IMO there is no better preparation for any sort of writing-and-thinking job than studying analytic philosophy, although of course I am biased. Not sure I’d recommend doing only a philosophy degree, but I highly recommend pairing it with something else more emplo…

And I studied continental philosophy! Which is the opposite!

Now I program to be less stochastic

:)

(Dropped out in my 3rd year to join the .com boom)

Re: The revenge of the philosophy majors

#34
post #18

"the demand for philosophers with A.I. training is, if anything, outstripping the supply right now. It’s an area I encourage students to go into"... There's about 20 philosophers employed by AI labs worldwide , vs 1000s of software engineers, product managers, designers, etc. There's probably more economists working in these labs than philosophers...

Starbucks employs orders of magnitude more philosophers than any AI labs.

and famously doesn't require a degree

Re: The revenge of the philosophy majors

#35
post #19

This article seems high on vibes, low on metrics. > While a plain-vanilla philosophy degree remains as hard to monetize as ever, David Chalmers, a prominent philosopher of consciousness at N.Y.U., observes: “I think the demand for philosophers with A.I. training is, if anything, outstripping the supply right now. It’s an area I encourage students to go into. I think these issues with A.I. will be front and center for…

The revenge of the _nearly a dozen_ philosophers.

Philosophy majors. That piece of paper does not make you a philosopher.

Re: The revenge of the philosophy majors

#36

I studied analytic philosophy, which is basically an education in how to clarify your thoughts, say what you mean in precise terms, and make clear arguments. IMO there is no better preparation for any sort of writing-and-thinking job than studying analytic philosophy, although of course I am biased. Not sure I’d recommend doing only a philosophy degree, but I highly recommend pairing it with something else more emplo…

And I studied continental philosophy! Which is the opposite! Now I program to be less stochastic :) (Dropped out in my 3rd year to join the .com boom)

Aha, continental philosophy is definitely worth learning as well. I don’t share the disdain many analytic people have for continentals.

However I don’t think it’ll make you better at writing clearly, unfortunately…

Re: The revenge of the philosophy majors

#37
post #18

"the demand for philosophers with A.I. training is, if anything, outstripping the supply right now. It’s an area I encourage students to go into"... There's about 20 philosophers employed by AI labs worldwide , vs 1000s of software engineers, product managers, designers, etc. There's probably more economists working in these labs than philosophers...

Starbucks employs orders of magnitude more philosophers than any AI labs.

If pay, hours, benefits, and type of work mean nothing to you, then maybe this is an apt point.

Re: The revenge of the philosophy majors

#38
post #18

"the demand for philosophers with A.I. training is, if anything, outstripping the supply right now. It’s an area I encourage students to go into"... There's about 20 philosophers employed by AI labs worldwide , vs 1000s of software engineers, product managers, designers, etc. There's probably more economists working in these labs than philosophers...

If the AI is digesting all the philosophy material ever published then why do they need philosophers?

Re: The revenge of the philosophy majors

#39
post #19

This article seems high on vibes, low on metrics. > While a plain-vanilla philosophy degree remains as hard to monetize as ever, David Chalmers, a prominent philosopher of consciousness at N.Y.U., observes: “I think the demand for philosophers with A.I. training is, if anything, outstripping the supply right now. It’s an area I encourage students to go into. I think these issues with A.I. will be front and center for…

> a prominent philosopher of consciousness at N.Y.U., observes…

The irony

Re: The revenge of the philosophy majors

#40
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Starbucks employs orders of magnitude more philosophers than any AI labs.

If pay, hours, benefits, and type of work mean nothing to you, then maybe this is an apt point.

If service to others and to society mean anything to you, working in Starbucks or any fast food job will teach you more about humanity and human society than most college grads learn from a humanities degree.
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