I talked to a guy who had a master’s degree in philosophy. He told me he worked for an investment firm.
Me: What do you do there, convince investment bankers not to kill themselves?
Him: Yeah, pretty much.
Me: 😳
So there is a way to use your philosophy degree for evil.
In this case, chaotic neutral i think.
Lawful evil
I’d think it’d be more ethical to do the exact opposite.
convince investment bankers not to kill themselves?
Sometimes there is great value in a job done poorly.
I have a masters in philosophy.
I work in IT security and compliance. I’m getting promoted way faster than most of my peers who have masters in technology… because they are really bad at understanding new concepts and ideals and how to apply them. Their mental flexibility is limited.
Philosophy is genuinely a fantastic subject to study and I have no idea why school curriculums don’t reflect this
Stupid people are easier to control.
I mean also I studied philosophy and have had no regrets. It’s awesome and fascinating and rich and appeals to the fact that you just know that the world doesn’t really make sense
I had a philosophy class on my 3rd year in HS. And I hated it, but only because it was imparted by a bitter and deeply religious old man whose lectures were basically “let me tell you why this philosopher was an idiot and a bad person” when anything challenged his views.
This was, of course, a private Catholic highschool. But, to be fair, he was the only teacher there that was like that. We even had decent sex-ed, taught by an actual doctor.
Well yeah I suspect that’s part of the reason it’s slipped out of the curriculum. Shit teachers co-opted it for religion
A philosophy degree might actually stand out more in today’s job market than a CS one.
I wasn’t sure if you meant Computer Science or Cyber Security. Then I remembered it doesn’t matter.
CS is Computer Science, Cyber Security is abbreviated as CyberSecs, Google it
asl?
I put on my robe and wizard hat.
I cast magic missile at the darkness!
I have a masters in cybersecurity, and I see some people abbreviating is as CS sometimes, and it always bothers me. CS = Computer Science
I too have seen it on occasion. But in the current market you’re best putting “Masters in C.S. from Standford” and hoping they interpret that to mean Cock Sucking. A significantly more stable and currently higher paying field.
It’s not quite the same thing, but reminds me of Sillicon Valley when
Spoiler
The blood boy has a degree in calisthenics studies and abbreviates it as CS
Coming soon, C.S. degrees from Trump University
Cock Sucking, the most stable, highest paying field in this economy. Enroll Today!
Dual credit classes available to highschool students at scenic Maralago
My kids will get a degree in prompt engineering.
I was a dual major Electrical Engineering/Philosophy. The rigorous logic in some branches of philosophy was very helpful for programming principles. And the the philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of mind has overlaps with and supplements modern AI theory pretty well.
I’m out of the tech world now but if I were hiring entry level software developers, I’d consider a philosophy degree to be a plus, at least for people who have the threshold competency in actual programming.
Yeah, the CS head at the small college I went to was also the Philosophy head (he got his doctorate in philosophy). The same formal logic class was a requirement for the CS, philosophy, and law degrees.
Most of my programming career was spent working for small consulting firms that created custom software for (relatively) small clients. The most important skill by far was the ability to talk to customers (and listen to them as well) in order to understand what they needed the custom software to actually do. Not only is this skill not taught in the Computer Science curriculum, it’s not even conceived of as a thing. My bosses were constantly hiring freshly-minted CS grads and could not understand why I rejected having them placed on my team. I instead always looked for people that had experience not just with programming but with things outside of the programming world entirely.
That being said, I sure would not have wanted a freshly-minted philosophy grad either, for the same reason.
That “might” is doing some heavy load.
I’m not kidding I studied philosophy and now genuinely work in a factory as a mechanic. I’ve made it big according to this.
I majored in Philosophy and am now a commercial HVAC mechanic. 🤷
ironically philosophy majors perform better on graduate school entrance exams like the LSAT and GREs than most other majors, and philosophy graduates tend to be more successful and be better earners than other majors, notably than business major graduates
arugably, philosophy is one of the better majors in terms of outcomes
https://philosophy.unc.edu/undergraduate/the-major/why-major-in-philosophy/
Don’t ya think this might be a bit bias? They have a vested interest to sell you a philosophy degree.
I used my philosophy of science classwork all the time in my engineering career.
What constitutes proof? What kinds of questions can you answer with data? When do we consider a pattern of behavior to represent the existence of some entity?
Being able to think about these kinds of questions with clarity is really helpful in diagnosing problems in large systems.
I’ve worked with a few philosophy majors in various roles and they were more thoughtful about things. Like they learned how to think, not just what to think.
What constitutes proof? What kinds of questions can you answer with data? When do we consider a pattern of behavior to represent the existence of some entity?
Any recommended reading for someone who’s never formally studied philosophy?
Karl Popper, “The Logic of Scientific Discovery” is a seminal work in the modern philosophy of science. It proposes to solve the problem of induction, and his proposal of falsifiability is, to my knowledge, the most popular philosophical framework for modern scientific practice. I’d be interested in what the above commenter has to say about Popper, though, as I am not well-read outside of his work, as my focus is on the history of science.
I’m not sure recommending Popper to someone who has never studied philosophy, and who is reading on their own, is a good idea … I would probably start with a small intro to philosophy book like Blackburn’s Think and then try to find lectures or resources that help teach Popper, rather than just diving into source material with no guidance.
Popper is important, but I don’t think he is commonly seen to have solved the problem of induction … he made an attempt, but that’s a different story.
Excellent points! And yes, that’s why I said he proposed that he solved the problem of induction.
sorry, I conflated what you said about falsifiability being the most popular framework with thinking he did solve the problem of induction, lol - I had just woken up when I responded to you, my apologies 😅
Popper is great, also recommend Hilary Putnam’s “The ‘Corroboration’ of Theories” on Popper. I admittedly adore Putnam, but it’s a nice overview of Popper’s view of induction and its problems.
Thomas Kuhn (The Structure of Scientific Revolutions) and his idea of paradigm shifts is also worth mentioning here, and Kuhn comes up in Putnam’s chapter, too.
Popper is considered an important historical contributor by the field, in the same way that Jacob Lister might be in surgery. Groundbreaking but their methods have been replaced.
Jeffrey Kaplan is the best current philosophy lecturer on YouTube imo. He focuses more on theories of consciousness but covers epistemology too. Bryan Magee did a fantastic interview series called The Great Philosophers that’s on YouTube.
I would actually start with sociology of science if you want the most interesting contemporary stuff. Harry Collins is fantastic, check out his recent book on LIGO. Steven Shapin’s book on the Scientific Revolution is good.
Bruno Latour is a love-him-or-hate-him figure in science studies (I love him). “Laboratory Life” and “Science in Action” are great reads imo.
yes, though the facts and studies they link to remain true regardless - this is the strongest argument for getting a philosophy degree, it makes sense they present it
So… I’ve spent more time than I care to admit attending University/College. I started out Undecided became a Science major then A Technology major before leaving with nothing to show for it. I’ve told myself for months now that the only way i’d ever go back was if I could be a Philosophy major.
Looking down on manufacturing jobs is so cool.
How else are you supposed to look at conveyor belt?
With desire.
I wonder if we can rival XKCD.
‘There’s a Darwin Award for that’
These two things can exist in harmony.
ಠ_ಠ
I didn’t need to read that
everyone looks down on people they feel are social inferior to them.
job, education, grammar, race, sex, take your pick.
job, education, grammar, race, sex, take your pick.
I’m gonna go with “calf muscles”.
Then the cyclists and marathon runners can actually get some respect to make up for the free time they lost to training.
I dunno, I used to have seriously monster calves until I started heavy cycling and running. They’re still OK but they definitely shrunk after I lost 30-40 pounds.
If I can contribute anything: don’t do a Ph.D. just because you’re not sure exactly what you want to do.
It may work out in the long run (thankfully it did eventually for me), but a M.Sc. is much shorter, and you may be more employable with one vs. a Ph.D.
Although do what you feel, maybe just think of this comment if you’re questioning.
(Also sorry, my experience is only in science)
I hired a gal with a phD in philosophy for a marketing position. She was so happy to have a job. She said she removed her phD from her LinkedIn but kept it in her resume because nobody would even give her the time of day.
A PhD is only worth it (both in time and money) if you have a real interest in what you are researching.
My family member got one in early childhood ed and can’t find a job because he’s over qualified and their afraid they’ll just find a better job.
Learned CS/Coding at school, ended up with a factory job in manufacturing.
The meme is right, it is a pretty balling existence all things considered
Going to college purely for a career is a hell of a gamble and the most likely positive outcomes are in fields where everyone fucking hates you (business majors, etc).
Go to improve yourself. Learn all you are interested in. Experience new things. For most jobs, nobody cares what your major is anyway. They care that you can focus on a long term goal and achieve it and a college degree demonstrates that.
my boss got mad when trying to use the “Socratic method” on a project that I was contradicting them and questioning their every statement
?!?!?!!?
Look, as a 40yo I have to advise new kids to yes, do what you want, but research the market first. If you want to do Philosophy to be a teacher great, but if not mayber try other areas like socialology or history that have a slightly better market…Or just learn IT because that’s the future and you are never out of a job
or just study what you want and get job skills separately.
our education system shouldn’t be teaching job skills anyway. it should be teaching higher order skills and the jobs should be training you at the specific job. most of the job skills you would learn in school will also be a 5-10 years out of date when you enter the workforce. or, if you are really lucky, your company will will be operating on skills from 20-30 years ago and your 10 year old skills will make you seem like a genius
This often cited study from 2012 reported that something like only 27% of those with bachelor’s degrees were working in a field related to their major. It’s over 10 years old but there’s no reason to assume that the general broad principles don’t still apply in the modern economy.
University educations have never been intended to be mere vocational skills programs. Being able to research, read, and write critically are important broad skills that are useful in life (including in the workforce), and most jobs out in the world don’t actually require significant specialized education.
People who work in sales, management, design, logistics, event planning, contracting, marketing, advertising, finance, real estate, and things like that don’t need particular degrees to do those jobs, but most of the white collar world has degrees. There’s nothing wrong with majoring in English literature and then going into software sales, or majoring in history and going into logistics, or majoring in philosophy and becoming a journalist. It’s not like you get a free pass to stop learning once you’re in an industry, and keeping up means learning things that weren’t even known when you were in college.
It’s liberating when you realize that the choices you made at 18 don’t box you in for life. You have the flexibility to make career changes into different industries, different roles, different cities, and different employers when you realize that most jobs can be learned as you go.
And most jobs suck, so it’s worth finding something that fits your strengths and ignores your weaknesses, so that it’s just easier for you to do.
Not really. I’m not sure how it ended up so rounded, but getting a degree is more than just “get skills for the job”. When you are getting any bachelor’s degree, you also have to take a certain amount of history, music appreciation, etc, heck my school even required lifetime fitness. It’s also learning alongside your peers to suffer together, I mean work together.
Also, for something like engineering, you don’t want a job to teach the basics of safely designing a building. You want that in school so when your job asks you to do something dumb, you can explain to them why it is unsafe and correctly refuse.
I like how my friend put it: “You COULD go to a technical school to get a job, but you wouldn’t be very interesting to talk to.”
Ugh and I just imagined if they made something like “Walgreens pharmacy school” that would train you to be a pharmacist but only for Walgreens. Imagine if your ability and certification to work in any field was tied to a specific company. No way to leave to CVS or whatever unless you go to “CVS pharmacy school”. Sounds awful.
that’s not true. maybe you were required to do that, but every school is different and maybe have entire dropped the trad liberal arts or general ed requirements. my college had no such requirements you should take whatever you wanted as long as you had a major.
some schools still also only offer liberal arts style degrees and have no technical degrees.
This is a funny meme but biotechnology manufacturing is big worldwide and needs STEM degrees for entry level
Literally half of why I changed my degree lmao
Ahh yes, working in a factory… my life’s dream is crushed.
