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What are the most useless/useful college degrees?

Pmacv1

Here's my list:

1. Gender Studies
2. English
3. Classics
4. Theology/Philosophy
5. Sociology

Honourable mention to Politics

Most useful:

1. Medicine
2. Computer Science
3. Physics/Chemistry
4. Engineering
5. Nursing

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ILoveYourVibes

Watch the right go for geography and environmental science next.

Raconteuse

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Without philosophy you wouldn't have democracy at all.

I was talking about your post where you said take out the first five and you get a population only voting Trump.

That needs more thinking through.

Better Than Christ

Pmacv1 wrote: »

Nope I'm referring to research and achievements which have improved our lives beyond the wildest imaginations of those living 50 years ago, and continue to improve constantly.

So if a person completes your average computer science degree, and goes on to have a good career in their chosen field, albeit one which doesn't make any significant contribution to any improvements to people's lives, was their decision to pursue that degree a waste of time?

When I did philosophy, I noticed that a significant number of medical students chose certain moral philosophy modules as electives. Do you think they were wasting their time?

Pmacv1

Better Than Christ wrote: »

So if a person completes your average computer science degree, and goes on to have a good career in their chosen field, albeit one which doesn't make any significant contribution to any improvements to people's lives, was their decision to pursue that degree a waste of time?

When I did philosophy, I noticed that a significant number of medical students chose certain moral philosophy modules as electives. Do you think they were wasting their time?

Nope, what I'm saying is that in the last 50 years, the 5 subjects I've outlined as most beneficial, have contributed much more than philosophy has in the past 50 years, and will most likely continue to do so.

Anybody can have a mediocre career in any field.

ILoveYourVibes

Raconteuse wrote: »

I was talking about your post where you said take out the first five and you get a population only voting Trump.

That needs more thinking through.

Over generations ..it really doesn't. I suggest you think that through.

What is never spoken of is never thought of.

LirW

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Watch the right go for geography and environmental science next.

ESKIMOS DO NOT EXIST!

ILoveYourVibes

LirW wrote: »

ESKIMOS DO NOT EXIST!

Exactly.

Its frightening people don't get it.

The truth is ...gender studies produces a lot of people way way out there ...but the GREATER truth is ...

You would never have change without those people.

Catch 22 ...never go to the extreme ....but nothing happens without extremists.

Better Than Christ

Pmacv1 wrote: »

Nope, what I'm saying is that in the last 50 years, the 5 subjects I've outlined as most beneficial, have contributed much more than philosophy has in the past 50 years, and will most likely continue to do so.

Anybody can have a mediocre career in any field.

Nope, you're saying that the college degrees themselves are useless/useful. By the standards you've outlined, almost all degrees are 'useless' on the grounds that the vast majority of people who successfully complete them will not make any groundbreaking contributions. Which, incidentally, does not make their career 'mediocre'.

MoashoaM

They have their uses. It might not serve the regular Randy directly, but the humanities do their bit.
The world presents us with new and unusual occurrences.
Studying and understanding them should be priority before fear sets in. We've lost that battle before.
A humanities degree serves a future humanities major, who serves humanity.

Raconteuse

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Over generations ..it really doesn't. I suggest you think that through.

What is never spoken of is never thought of.

No you wouldn't just have Trump voting types.

nkl12xtw5goz70

Pmacv1 wrote: »

Ah stop, I only meant that there useless in the way that they produce nothing of any value!

Literature, the classics, and philosophy may produce nothing you value, but society would be greatly impoverished if nobody studied them.

lsjmhar

Philosophy makes you bull**** proof!! Probably the best degree there is!!

ILoveYourVibes

Raconteuse wrote: »

No you wouldn't just have Trump voting types.

Types are cultivated.

The us only had a 60's because more people were going to college than ever.

Your subject choice at school shapes your world view

Economics majors are statistically more likely to be fiscal conservatives.

Walk into the Dublin business school and you might notice it.

There are even studies to show studying economics makes students more conservative than they were to begin with.

Your brain is constantly being programmed.

ILoveYourVibes

lsjmhar wrote: »

Philosophy makes you bull**** proof!! Probably the best degree there is!!

EmmetSpiceland

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

https://tenor.com/Lkfh.gif

Raconteuse

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Types are cultivated.

The us only had a 60's because more people were going to college than ever.

Your subject choice at school shapes your world view

Economics majors are statistically more likely to be fiscal conservatives.

Walk into the Dublin business school and you might notice it.

There are even studies to show studying economics makes students more conservative than they were to begin with.

Your brain is constantly being programmed.

Business isn't even mentioned in the OP's second five!

Just medical and science subjects, computer science and engineering.

EmmetSpiceland

Raconteuse wrote: »

Business isn't even mentioned in the OP's second five!

Just medical and science subjects, computer science and engineering.

Dublin Business School was a bad example too, as the students aren’t exactly there on “merit”.

ILoveYourVibes

Raconteuse wrote: »

Business isn't even mentioned in the OP's second five!

Just medical and science subjects, computer science and engineering.

They have a slightly higher ratio of conservatives.

That would grow without the impact of social sciences on culture particularly campus culture.

ILoveYourVibes

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Dublin Business School was a bad example too, as the students aren’t exactly there on “merit”.

Its any business school ..and most business courses anywhere.

ILoveYourVibes

anyway i have to get up in the morning nite

nkl12xtw5goz70

Twister2 wrote: »

I would put maths up there but you need higher than basic degree

I'd love to know the OP's view on maths. Useful or useless?

work

Pmacv1 wrote: »

Here's my list:

1. Gender Studies
2. English
3. Classics
4. Theology/Philosophy
5. Sociology

Honourable mention to Politics

Most useful:

1. Medicine
2. Computer Science
3. Physics/Chemistry
4. Engineering
5. Nursing

You say they are useless in that they produce nothing of any value.
Without intentionally sounding like an outlier you basically saying Science GOOD and humanities BAD.
We have destroyed over 60%++ of our biodiversity in the last few decades, we have extinct more creatures in the last few decades than our known history, we multiply like a virus devouring the body/world, we genetically modify without having any idea of the effect this will have etc etc..the list is endless.......Without your usefull list none of this would be achieved, so exactly how is you list usefull other than to produce things, people and money none of which are good for the world!!
Our obsession with production, material goods and money will be the end of us without a paradigmic change in our warped ideas.

Ficheall

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

What is never spoken of is never thought of.

It is possible to never speak of something you've thought of, though I realise this does not match with your posting style.

thecornflake

Pmacv1 wrote: »

Nope, what I'm saying is that in the last 50 years, the 5 subjects I've outlined as most beneficial, have contributed much more than philosophy has in the past 50 years, and will most likely continue to do so.

Anybody can have a mediocre career in any field.

Absolutely, in the short term science and engineering will always provide more benefit (cash/economic/standard of living - benefits).

Imagine this, years and years into the future, humanity has developed interstellar/galactic transport. We have secured intimate and total knowledge of the workings of the universe and can utilise the full power of the basic laws of physics at a whim. What then? What do we guide us to decide what is right to do and what is wrong? What even guides us on the path to get there?

As previous posters have pointed out, philosophers evolved into natural philosophers over the millennia. Surely this can still be going on but at a rate too slow for us to see until we have enough years past to look back and notice the change?

With science/engineering we become powerful, resourceful and successful but without the humanities we might aswel be robots achieving all that we have.

I am a scientist btw.

Raconteuse

You can study humanities anyway yourself though. You don't need a degree in them.

I did arts myself - English and geography - sometimes I wish I had done economics instead of English (despite what someone said, geography does have practical applications, like cartography and GIS and town planning modules). Or not arts at all - law or psychology. But of course too busy with the social life and dressing up to look 18 to study for those points!

There are humanities which are needed, for teaching, social work, social policy etc. But others are "hobby" degrees, which as said, lovely for a retired person but not very practical for someone starting out.

I used to be of the school of thought that it doesn't matter what you study though, so I understand both arguments.

Mad_maxx

Pmacv1 wrote: »

Here's my list:

1. Gender Studies
2. English
3. Classics
4. Theology/Philosophy
5. Sociology

Honourable mention to Politics

Most useful:

1. Medicine
2. Computer Science
3. Physics/Chemistry
4. Engineering
5. Nursing

"gender studies" is useful if you manage to bag a semi regular spot on RTE or land yourself a gig teaching grievance studies in the likes of UCD

Mad_maxx

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

If money is your idol then very little else is useful to you because nothing else is going to provide you with as much money as you think ....

If you want to make money ...you don't need anything else but the desire to make money and the work.

Anything else will waste your time. Doctors don't do it for the money ...and you would be wasting your time. Its too much work for too little money.

People have a terrible attitude towards money they think its evil to want lots of money or that its bad to want other things and value them as much as money or more.

Money is awesome. But the path to money is to want to make money. Its not a degree.

But you should value other things as a wise billionaire

Do you know George Soros studied philosophy?

In uni he did ...and he applied karl popper's theory to capital markets. Now don't get me started on karl popper!

But the philosopher Karl popper was actually Soros' mentor.

I dunno if you know George Soros but he has plenty of money...also has a degree and a masters in philosophy.

"doctors don't do it for the money"

https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OGC.4c7cc15772ecc8ca9cbf3cb414653574&pid=Api&rurl=https%3a%2f%2fmedia.giphy.com%2fmedia%2fzhJ55GsXRajxm%2fgiphy.gif&ehk=4rt7GBNkqdN9MePgdgDYltoy0xt6gYZcsemQkmr0QQc%3d

sbsquarepants

LirW wrote: »

While I believe that just about every degree has its right to exist and are useful for society in one way or another, there's one I'd like to nominate as worst contender: Geography.
Not because it's boring or wishy-washy, but I believe that the overall topics are covered better by Google maps and other academic disciplines.

I think you might be confusing geography with taxi driving:D That's were google maps has taken over.

No more 3 or 4 years spent driving around in circles to the knowledge guv, innit.:D

sbsquarepants

Mad_maxx wrote: »

"doctors don't do it for the money"

https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OGC.4c7cc15772ecc8ca9cbf3cb414653574&pid=Api&rurl=https%3a%2f%2fmedia.giphy.com%2fmedia%2fzhJ55GsXRajxm%2fgiphy.gif&ehk=4rt7GBNkqdN9MePgdgDYltoy0xt6gYZcsemQkmr0QQc%3d

I don't ever remember a time (i'm 45 btw) that the health service hasn't been embroiled in a row with doctors, nurses, consultants you name it.....always looking for more money and threatening to fúck off to Australia / America / Mars wherever pays best if they don't get it!!

And all the while insisting they're not in it for the money:D:D

nkl12xtw5goz70

Raconteuse wrote: »

You can study humanities anyway yourself though. You don't need a degree in them.

To a point, yes. Someone can read Pride and Prejudice by herself, just as she can go to an art museum by herself and look at paintings. But in both instances it helps to have guidance from an expert, who can show a young student numerous aspects of a novel or a painting that she probably would not figure out on her own.

Developing good writing skills and the ability to read long, complex texts also should not be underestimated in today's soundbite-oriented world. You write articulately and clearly — studying English may have helped with that, and it's a skill that can be put to use across numerous fields.

There are humanities which are needed, for teaching, social work, social policy etc. But others are "hobby" degrees, which as said, lovely for a retired person but not very practical for someone starting out.

I'm a fan of the US model, which combines general education across multiple fields with (usually) one or two majors. This means that the physics student will have to take some classes in literature and history, while the literature student will have to take some college-level maths and science. It produces students with a more rounded education.

I used to be of the school of thought that it doesn't matter what you study though, so I understand both arguments.

More people seem to assume that the purpose of a third-level education is to get a job in a specific field. Sadly, we are losing sight of the goal of the liberal arts —that universities should produce an educated citizenry that is highly literate, historically and culturally informed, and aesthetically appreciative. That goal is more nebulous than producing engineers and computer programmers, but it is no less vital to a healthy society.