/lit/ - Literature

>mfw your right

>>2184569

Ah, the great 'all science majors contribute to society' myth. The reality is that most of us (people, that is) will achieve precisely nothing of value, even if we spend a lifetime doing the thing that we're best at. Also, 'our papers' mean shit? The expression of any novel opinion is vastly superior to merely 'working out' a question set by someone who answered exactly the same question exactly the same way years before (while hundreds of people in your class succeed in getting the same answer and thousands of people do something practically identical worldwide - year upon year).

>>2184584
Stop feeding the raid.

Fuck people who do business and economics degrees, I say. When I'm at a party and someone says they did that I think "Great. Good for you, but I don't want to talk to you".

I would rather do art history, sociology, anthropology or philosophy, and have some real level of articulacy and interesting conversation at hand.

>>2184569

Enjoy repairing my washing machine.

There are right-wing politicians who would happily shut down all quangos, ngos, think tanks, and other research organisations, whilst having thousands of soldiers sitting around in barracks.

Society benefits from people philosophising. A lot of idiots who are great at maths. And a lot of kids with business degrees are naive and unenlightened as fuck, even if they might go on to earn 100k by standing on people's heads.

>>2184616
as the roommate of a business student at one of the top 5 business schools in the country, I can vouch for this. the kid's a total sycophant knuckledragger and will probably be making 500k i-banking 5yrs out of college

>>2184569
I seem pretty happy with it, just going by my face.

Studying solely to attain a well-paying job is the ultimate form of social status slavery, whatever it is you're doing. And what may generally be regarded as 'contributing to humanity' may not necessarily be a particularly noble thing, or a life well spent. I know most people who would regard sitting in an office for your entire existence at a computer to make money for your ceo to be contributing society more than learning history or doing conservation work. Society is programmed to value status and wealth more than anything, and as a result something that allows you to achieve these things is seen as productive and acceptable.

I know this was a troll thread but I had to say my piece. Not studying english btw.

>mfw I don't give a shit whether or not my major "contributes" anything to society; the only thing that matters is that what I study brings me pleasure and intellectual stimulation, which it does in spades. I love my books, and I love writing. People have been writing for thousands of years, and I feel like I am contributing something to the tradition every time I take up my pen.

And please, for my amusement, tell me what exactly the next new 3D, HD, plasma TV contributes to the betterment of the human race? All I can see are people sitting on their asses and mountains of e-trash polluting the once beautiful lands of Africa.

>>2185487
This man is correct.

Engineers are always pissed off because while they waste their life doing something meaningless and boring that other don't want to hear about, humanities students spend their education doing something meaningless and fun that allows you to connect with other people on a deeper level. This is from where the butthurt stems.
>>2184584
good point

>>2185517
Wololo, well said, Jon, thank you.

>>2185487

face I meant to post.

>>2185487
I completely agree with the premise of study what you love, but who the fuck is talking about tv's? Where did that come from? Is that what you think all engineers do?

>>2186205
Are you perhaps oblivious to an obvious attempt to illustrate the fallacy op used or are you in fact op himself trying to resurrect your shitty troll thread no one cares about?

>>2186210
First guess was right, I completely missed it. My bad. However, I can say that those 3D, HD, plasma TV's do contribute to the betterment of society. But only in a very narrow capacity. For example they are beneficial to the medical field when adapted properly.

>Leave lit for a year
>Decide to come back and see what's happening
>This thread, again

Well, nice to know I haven't missed anything at all. I'm sure if I scroll any further I'll see an Ayn Rand thread too.

>>2184569

Yeah, except your premise is flawed. What exactly is a "contribution" to humanity? I study to delve deeper into the things which interest me, in my case the goal being dual masters in philosophy and history, and hopefully a Ph.d eventually. As for high-paying jobs I really couldn't give any less fucks than I already do, I live in a cozy studio pat, I wait tables and bartend, all shitty things you would say. But I like my apartment, I enjoy the work, but most of all it affords me the freedom to have a lot of free time, and spend it writing novels and painting. I don't really care if I ever succeed in these things either, I'm living the life I always wanted to live, even if it's poor financially wise.

>>2186220
Nothing wrong with that

I think the people getting English degrees sometimes don't know what to do with them. It isn't all teaching, novel or column writing, you can get some serious jobs within the film, TV and music industries. After getting an English degree, you can pretty much follow up with something relating to media.

/lit/ can't say no to a troll.

bump

/sci/ buttwrecked at /lit/s superior troll skills resort to bumping their own troll threads...fucking hunchbacks never learn

>>2186220
You're a gentleman and a scholar. I admire you.

>bash literature
>post a scientist who did more for science with his oratory and writing than his actual science

Hah.

>>2187421
nope.

he contributed quite a bit of knowledge to the scientific community, regardless of his popular magazine status.

>>2187449

That's why I said "more".

>>2187421
>implying literature correlated to science isn't science

>>2187457

>implying this post doesnt confirm you for being a clueless retard

As an English minor I sometimes feel that way. Its a good waste of time and resources to just spend all day debating some vague idea and reading books. They are neither groundbreaking unless you are Harold Bloom by any chance, or neither are they contributory towards society as a whole. So literary criticism should be done away with as a self-absorbed and pretentious waste of time.

Creating literature however, like poets or writers, I love and regard, but writing books about what people wrote is useless.

Whereas philosophy or psychology contributes to a stable and establishing body, ideas flow and progress more strongly than English because they tend to atleast deal with universals and objectivity, English doesn't attempt that.

Whereas philosophy has changed and evolved society, alongside psychology and other non-sciences in the humanities, literary criticism does not do that.

>>2187466
>implying you aren't a clueless retard

I am an anthro major. I just come here for the discussion of writing, which I do as a hobbie.
Also do you really think CRM (Culture resource Management) work REALLY changes the world? We dig up the artifacts of people long past. The only people who really care about it often distort it for their own Ethnic or Nationalistic agenda.
Science progresses humanity many people disregard it. Which sucks but that how people are.