- Joined
- May 18, 2014
An extremely valid point but I'm just pointing out at least they have more practical applications as opposed to say gender studies.
Worthless degrees
- Thread starter TopCat
- Start date
An extremely valid point but I'm just pointing out at least they have more practical applications as opposed to say gender studies.
A
AA 102
Guest
kiwifarms.net
Women's Studies, pretty much every music degree, and English.
Innocuous
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2015
It just depends on how a person utilizes a degree. An engineering degree is worthless if the person who earned it does nothing with it.
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2016
Yes, let's just ignore the pesky fact that the more exposed to philosophy people are, the more successful they are at math, expression, creativity, logic, comprehension, empathy, debate, language, critical thinking; and the more likely they are to outperform others both in scientific careers and life in general -- not to mention they are far less prone to fall prey to manipulation, tinfoil hat theories, scams and mind-viruses like social justice. One can even go as far as to say that teaching people philosophy reduces autistic tendencies and sociopathy, and forces people realize that they are not special snowflakes who deserve everything without work.
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2013
A dude I went to highschool with has a criminal justice degree and last I checked, he's a security guard at a casino...
- Joined
- May 18, 2014
To be the job market is horrible right now. There's an enormous labor surplus.
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2016
At least they can reflect on WHY you want fries with that.
E: In a non-sarcastic answer that goes back to my original point about critical thinking. It's about the paucity of critical thinking skills found in other degrees and not really the inherent superiority of philosophy degrees. If you come out of a degree course thinking you're smarter than everyone else, then it was a huge failure.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2014
This is untrue. A lot of people with music degrees are able to find employment - it just takes hard work.
A
AA 102
Guest
kiwifarms.net
I was speaking mainly from experience. I know a few people who have music degrees, only one has stable work and the others complain about a lack of work. This goes for their friends as well.
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2016
Art History
Metaphysics
Theatre
Fine Arts from anywhere, especially Sarah Lawerence.
Metaphysics
Theatre
Fine Arts from anywhere, especially Sarah Lawerence.
Innocuous
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2015
There's nothing wrong with private security. It can be a good starting job for someone with that degree.
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2013
It's a $13-14/hr job that doesn't specifically require a criminal justice degree and he has like six figures of student loan debt (and he's been there for years).
But I digress.Also, what is the consensus on film studies degrees that aren't from a film school? Or film schools in general? It seems like now, in the era of youtube, it'd be almost better to study film on your own and just make random shitty movies and learn that way, rather than pay out the ass for film school tuition in the hopes that you might make industry connections but I guess it's not for me to say.
Wallace
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2015
Funny you should mention that. I was talking to a recruiter today, with a PhD in biology. After a year unemployed to take care of his triplets, no one in biotech would hire him again. Even with the advanced degree and experience, he was deemed "too stale" after just a year out of work. He spent three years bagging groceries to make ends meet. Turns out the doctorate makes you less employable, not more.
There's my sister's degree. She's a caterer.
Innocuous
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2015
It's a $13-14/hr job that doesn't specifically require a criminal justice degree and he has like six figures of student loan debt (and he's been there for years).
Also, what is the consensus on film studies degrees that aren't from a film school? Or film schools in general? It seems like now, in the era of youtube, it'd be almost better to study film on your own and just make random shitty movies and learn that way, rather than pay out the ass for film school tuition in the hopes that you might make industry connections but I guess it's not for me to say.
Don't bash private security or criminal justice just cause your friend's retarded, lol
I knew this idiot that went to film school and now regrets the entire thing, and he's depressed and shit. He showed what he made to me and it was terrible. He had bad taste in film as well.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2015
Meanwhile the skilled trades are fucking desperate for people. The combination of all the old trades guys/journeymen retiring and every kid going to college after being told by everyone that a 4-year degree from SixPack State U would propel them right into the ivory towers and that trade jobs are for the plebs.
But I need to buy coffee regularly so I'm glad this country churns out so many college-educated Starbucks employees.
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2015
Huh, this is quite the honeypot.
Only thing I'll say is that some degrees in undergrad are worth a lot more/less depending on what you plan to do post undergrad. For instance, let's say we have two students, A and B. Student A majors in Physics, while Student B majors in Philosophy. Conventional wisdom says that Student A made a better choice and that Student B got a worthless degree.
However, lets suppose Student A goes into theoretical research in grad school -- String Theory, Loop Quantum Gravity, that sort of thing. And, lets further suppose Student B goes to law school. Now, suddenly, the philosophy student looks to have a much better job outlook than the physics student, since the physics student has firmly committed to working in education/academia. I guess the upshot I am going for here is that pretty much any degree can be a good choice depending on your goals and how smartly you use that degree.
Except Gender Studies. You are literally always going to be better off doing Literature, Philosophy, or Sociology (etc.) and just writing your thesis on some gender bullshit.
Only thing I'll say is that some degrees in undergrad are worth a lot more/less depending on what you plan to do post undergrad. For instance, let's say we have two students, A and B. Student A majors in Physics, while Student B majors in Philosophy. Conventional wisdom says that Student A made a better choice and that Student B got a worthless degree.
However, lets suppose Student A goes into theoretical research in grad school -- String Theory, Loop Quantum Gravity, that sort of thing. And, lets further suppose Student B goes to law school. Now, suddenly, the philosophy student looks to have a much better job outlook than the physics student, since the physics student has firmly committed to working in education/academia. I guess the upshot I am going for here is that pretty much any degree can be a good choice depending on your goals and how smartly you use that degree.
Except Gender Studies. You are literally always going to be better off doing Literature, Philosophy, or Sociology (etc.) and just writing your thesis on some gender bullshit.
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2013
I do think it's largely because everyone who graduated with a worthless degree went "OOOPS BACKUP PLAN!" when they couldn't find a halfway decent job and hastily decided that law school was their backup plan. Hence, a glut of people with law degrees.
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2016
We are already inching towards a society where everything from burger flipping jobs to scientists and psychologist and doctors will be replaced by machines. Like I admitted, philosophy alone doesn't do you much in terms of finding work, but philosophy in combination with other studies or jobs, whatever they may be, enhances educational and occupational success, meaning also having a degree in philosophy is much more likely to attract the attention of a worthy employer than one in Africkan studies. As for people with experience in philosophy being smarter than the general public, that's just my opinion, but there is evidence is suggesting it does give people a lot of edges in various environments.
Look, I really hate resorting to personal examples like these, but the school I went to was mostly composed of middle to upper-class whites in an area where most people were white with a high rate of employment and a lot of high-paying jobs. My first philosophy class had a similar composition. Despite this, 80-90% of the students consistently failed to grasp basic concepts such as the difference between "is" and "ought," and "should" and "ought to," and how it related to communication/meaning, or LITERALLY thought the professor was trying to convince the class we were all brains in vats. If this is the best we can do, it's no wonder why the Western world is infested with carcinogenic parasites!
Last edited:
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2014
I'd agree with this on the basis that while gender studies does have a certain degree of usefulness for those of us in academia (especially in interdisciplinary fields like cultural history, musicology or other humanities), it isn't by itself particularly useful. It's something that a lot of humanities scholars will dabble in but until recently it was relatively rare for somebody to make it their primary area of research.
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2015