/lit/ - Literature

Jokes on you, Imma win the lottery!

>collegememes.cheezeburger.com

sounds legit

This is true but
>collegememes.cheezburger.com

>>3076972
I dunno, after 25 life is pretty shitty. Better to have it enjoy it before it gets bad.

Fixed that for you.

>he only has 3 contentment

>>3077192
>liberal arts major
Any homeless shelter you want 3 cents a day starting

>STEM major
Any job you want $300k a year starting

I envy those liberal arts majors, just look at all those jobs!

>>3077205
Believe it!

>>3077205
SAD BUT TRUE

okay maybe it isn't that sad but still

why do people always think that "liberal arts" and "humanities" are synonymous? Liberal arts can definitely refer to sciences too.

"n modern times liberal arts is a term which can be interpreted in different ways. It can refer to certain areas of literature, languages, philosophy, history, mathematics, psychology, and science.[3] It can also refer to studies on a liberal arts degree program. For example, Harvard University offers a Master of Liberal Arts degree, which covers biological and social sciences as well as the humanities.[4] For both interpretations, the term generally refers to matters not relating to the professional, vocational, or technical curricula. "

>>3077205
>wanting a good job

Digusting. You want a wife and kids too? Maybe own a house and have a car? Pffrrt.

>>3077201
now this is sad.
source?

is /lit/ really so slow we feed every passing troll?

>>3077242
It's a perpetual training in justifying our useless selves to society.

>>3077232
>generalizing
>mentioning Harvard

I'm sure it's on there somewhere.

>>3076972
I don't know what methods you are using to determine quality of life so I am not persuaded by your graphic.

>tfw i'm after a girl that's about to become a cop

>>3077249
>Plato
>against logical phallacies
>my opinion is right because I'm telling you Socrates said so

"the eminent philosopher FLoyd Swaner has suggested, that in order to give the liberal arts degree some usefulness to it's obtainer after receipt, that perhaps it should be printed upon toilet tissue, or at least have printed upon its reverse directions to the local welfare office."

>>3077205
Life isn't only about work, friend.

>>3077249
I know many of them but I'll learn the rest, although it's a bit depressing knowing there are dozens and dozens of this kind
>>3077257
Lol

>>3077266
>Philosophy is a load of wank unless they say something with which I agree.

>>3077270
is that Swaner?

>>3077272


"to be a successful and respected student of Women's Studies, one must remember that the one thing one must avoid at all costs is the actual study of women."

that's Swaner

>>3077281
great

>graduation
>not studying your whole life

fucking plebs

Let's ignore the fact that writers end up writing
and editing
and being journalists
and writing books
and teaching
and having fun
and perhaps even doing odd jobs

and ignore the fact that many applied science/technology students do not end up employed
and many engineers end up being a grunt their whole life
and engineering in america sucks because they make shitty stuff

let's all forget it

>>3077367

>What some lit students actually believe.

We'll end up working in a shitty office job making less than STEM students do in a less interesting job and you know it.0

You guys are really insecure, huh?

>>3077384

I sure am

This assumes you go into a degree looking for a career at the end of it.
Some of us have the luxury of pursuing a subject out of interest and not necessity.

>>3077383
>less interesting

That's subjective. I don't find STEM work to be interesting in the slightest.

Quality of life is a hard thing to quantify

>>3077383
Who are you guys? Do you have a bad gpa or something? Awful self esteem?
I literally don't know any NEETS. All of my friends who went to college with literature, history, etc majors have gotten jobs that relate to their careers. All of my sisters friends (she majoring in music) have gotten careers related to their careers, from art history to ancient studies...
Is this some massive troll cover-up?
My high school teacher who majored in ____ history [don't remember] got a job in real estate right after graduating and then became a teacher of Human Rights...
I guess these threads are good because it makes anyone only vaguely interested in liberal arts re-think it, and leaves us who would study it even without the financial rewards.
So, whatever.
So silly.

Genuine question, why are Americans obsessed with going into Engineering? The field's already over-saturated and all the graduates coming through are going to make things even worse; much like Law became recently.
Do you guys have it nailed into you from childhood that engineering is the best option or something.

>>3077414

It's subjective if you get into something related to your degree. You probably won't though. You'll likely be working a shitty menial office job. I will too. Most people not studying STEM subjects will. Anyone who goes to a fucking business academy will.

>>3077266
>name doesn't bring up a wiki article
>eminent

>>3077425

>America saturated with engineers.

There's a shortage of engineers.

>>3077427
You only work a shitty job if you choose to do it

>>3077433

>Top Silicon Valley executives, U.S. think-tanks, industry associations, and university deans have all pointed out dropping enrollment in American science and tech programs and warn of a brewing problem. And in a November survey of 4,000 U.S. engineers, 64% said outsourcing makes them worry about the profession's future, while less than 10% feel sure America will maintain its leadership in technology.

Such gloom is reinforced by a raft of oft-cited statistics: the U.S. graduates only 70,000 engineers a year, and enrollment in engineering schools is declining fast. India, meanwhile, turns out 350,000 engineers annually, while Chinese universities produce 600,000, by some estimates. Indeed, with Asian techies earning anywhere from a quarter to a tenth of what their Western counterparts do, doomsayers might ask why any intelligent young American would pursue engineering.

>>3077440

Better than being homeless.

>>3077443
An article from 2005, really?

>>3077449
Worse than moving to the woods, and living in a cabin free from society's boundaries.

>>3077449
That's not necessarily true.

>>3077449
That's only the case if you somehow pigeonhole yourself enough that you consider office work as the only option, which is retarded.

>be freelance writer
>make anywhere from £15k-25k a year
>rent 2 bedroom house with girlfriend
>happy with life

Money does not buy happiness, folks. Slaving away in a STEM job you hate purely for more money does not make for a good life.

>>3077498
In before someone says something about sour grapes.

>>3077498
What sort of writing do you do, journalism?

>>3077498

Tell us more about your wonderful job.

>>3077498
Exactly.
Only 50% of those who go into STEM graduate, too.
And those people going into STEM *REALLY LIKE* STEM.
So if you don't like Science, or Applied Mathematics, or Technology...
why the fuck would you do that to yourself? It's a waaaaaaaaaaaaste.

>>3077508
Shouldn't it be STEAM then?

>>3077508

If you don't love it you won't graduate. Simple as that. Biology mayyybbee but mathematics, physics, chemistry or engineering? Not a chance,

>>3077504
Mostly ghost writing.

>>3077498

>Purely for money
>Save up enough to retire very comfortably by 50

>>3077531
Well I'm freelance, guy. I could spend most of my week doing nothing if I really wanted to. The thought of retirement doesn't appeal to me. I enjoy what I do.

>>3077529
Oh, I couldn't do that I'm crap at writing horror stories

>>3077553

>>3077556
Seriously, I joined a club for writing them once but I felt like dead weight

I find it odd how insecure STEM majors are that they have to put others down.

Hell, that might not even be insecurity. I don't know what it is, to be honest.

>>3077565

>>3077567
>believing in hell
Typical liberal arts major.

>>3077569
Are you trying to imply that I should give up the ghost?

>>3077579
That's a devilish assumption

>>3077581

>>3077567

It's hating life for 4 years while watching the liberal arts phaggot frolic in their enjoyable classes.

i don't think it's quite as sudden as your step function indicates, OP

>>3077531
If your only goal is saving enough for retirement, why the fuck would it take you until 50? By my calculations I could retire by 40, or 35 if I'm willing to live outside a major city.

>>3077593
What is enjoyable about liberal arts classes?

Either you (a) become a slave and parrot everything the professor says, or (b) take your education seriously, take risks on your papers, etc, only to be educated on what it means to be a scholar and part of a school.

>>3077682

a) Contrary to popular belief, many professors are open-minded. If you are courteous and reach out to your professors, you can be a Reagen Republican and ace a Liberal's class.

b) see the above.

I feel STEM is too risky to take given that I don't even applied science/math. This is especially true because other countries have 20 times the STEM graduates, with a much harder curriculum than that in the US, and would gladly work here for half the money.
Oh well.
If I decide I enjoy Computer Sciences, I can always read it on my own time, no?

>>3077698
Many profs are open-minded, but the vast vast majority, unless you go to a great school, are fucking retards.

Take a "risk" by straying from the retarded biases and narrowmindedness of your professor -> Write a passionate and fantastic paper -> 64% "Didn't pander to my biases enough" -> No B+ average -> No grad school -> Lol

>>3077698
I am speaking from personal experience. I have written papers disagreeing with the essay prompt. I have been told that whatever the essay prompt is, I am to agree with and support it, in addition to meeting (but never exceeding!) the word count, page length, font choice, formatting, and all the other technical requirements.

I have written papers that go beyond the technical requirements, only to be told it went directly in the trash can.

I have been told, in an actual office hour conversation, that being "in school" means precisely that... swimming, as mindless fish do, in the same direction as all the other fish, and if a student does not always do this and chooses to make himself conspicuous, bad things happen, and if a scholar does not wish to swim in this school and wants to swim in a different direction, they should go away and start another school.

Unlike
>>3077705
I would not call my professors narrow-minded or their biases retarded. I agreed their arguments and conclusions had merit most of the time. But that was never enough. Teaching students, especially independent students, is not why people become professors.

>>3077749
But I want to be a professor, and also want to teach students to be independent thinkers...

It's funny, I keep being swayed towards Biological Engineering or Physics because of their greater income... and I think for a moment, 'I should study either instead of Philosophy!'. But then I remember that I've been in love with Philosophy since middleschool, so if anyone should study it in it should be I, no?

>>3077769
Philosophy especially you will never actually get to study. Unless you like that continental or analytic shit that isn't philosophy.

>>3077769
The way I understand it, based on the professors I've heard, is that unless you spend every free moment of your life yearning and striving for academic publication, you will never be a professor.

You have students because they pay the bills. Also, their clumsy attempts at scholarship and their brown-nosing are your morale boost, and your control of their curriculum provides you with the euphoria of power.

>>3077705
>>3077749
See kids, this is why you have to go to a respectable private school. Doesn't even have to be Ivy or even especially famous, just make sure it has some standards and have a chat with a professor before you enroll there.

>>3078185
Private is fucking expensive as hell. For most of us, our best bet is a reasonably established public university, B-grade basically.

>want to teach students to be independent thinkers

I'm sorry, but I laughed so hard I farted, and the four other junior faculty in this dogpen are trying to shush men.

>>3078185
Or just go to a public school and major in something that is intellectually rigorous enough that being correct means something beyond the professor's own ideology.

>get engineering degree
>work as an engineer for ten years
>be promoted to management
>don't have any kids
>save a lot of money
>buy a rocket
>fly off into the sun

That's my plan, at least.