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/lit/ - Literature

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1653274 No.1653274 [Reply] [Original]

Why do people continue to spend thousands to millions of dollars taking classes in Literature, Philosophy, and Humanities?

It's not really like those fields have any practical application. You don't need to pay thousands of dollars to study literature if you want to be a writer. An education in editing and proofreading might help, but a costly education in literature and philosophy won't.

I notice a lot of people on /lit/ are deciding on a college major in these fields... why don't you choose a major that actually ties into a useful skill, or at least knowledge that doesn't make you sound like some kind of useless pedant incapable of making so much as a single contribution to society.

>> No.1653281

Even knowledge of the social sciences is more useful than those fields. If you have a knowledge of geography, politics, history or languages it at least opens up positions in government, maybe working as an analyst or diplomat if you're lucky.

Literature, Philosophy and most of the Humanities don't even do that. They don't mean anything unless you need an easy major to get into law school.

>> No.1653291

Because engineering is boring.

>> No.1653297
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>> No.1653296

Some people don't care for "usefulness", some people merely pursue their academic interests. Some people don't judge value based on perceived "usefulness" to society.

>> No.1653300
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1653300

>> No.1653306
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1653306

>> No.1653310

>>1653300
there are degrees of badness even for satan's little helpers

>> No.1653312

>>1653300
>implying giving soup to hobos will change the world

nice thinking commie

>> No.1653315
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1653315

>>1653310
>>1653312

>> No.1653345

>>1653315

I'm not sure you can defend that really.

Yes you fill someone's stomach for a night, but that doesn't solve the underlying issues for why homeless exist.

That's what people are trying to solve when they say "I have this idea that if we do x and y, we will solve issue z".

But hey if it makes you feel good you should promote non-solutions to perpetuate the issue (just so you can continue to feel good about yourself).

>> No.1653381

Because I attended university I was able to get involved in 3 charities: two work towards those suffering from depression and attempt to deal with it, the third is to help raise money abroad. Furthermore I was able to join a media service that provides coverage on student events which is helpful for the student population and its interaction with the local community. I study Politics and Philosophy.

I think I've been able to make a contribution to society since joining university.

>> No.1653390

OP is right, in a way.
The Humanities and Literature, they really don't have application other than to entertain. Philosophy is useful, but not the "Philosophy" that comes from philosophy majors. The greatest philosophy came from the Greeks. Guess what else the Greeks were? Scientists and mathematicians.

But I should say that I know plenty of people who would go mad if they couldn't listen to Liszt or read Tolstoy.

So I'll say this: Scientists need artists to keep them from going full Mengele, and artists need scientists to help the world so that they can keep dicking around.

>> No.1653391

>>1653345
The problem is a system that deliberately curtails food production and distribution to artificially create the idea of "scarcity", all the while refusing to produce enough to meet the actual demand of those who have no money.

Economist are not agriculturalists, and as an amateur in the field, I'm here to tell you there would be enough food for everyone, except that it wouldn't be profitable to sell (more like "give") it to people without any money, so it's a self-perpetuating cycle.

Not that I have any solutions besides complaints, but until someone out there finds an economic system that actually cares about needs rather than just printing money for itself (money that is worth less and less, consequently), there are a lot of hungry people out there. Everything else is just ideas, this is physical reality, and I think doing even something small and ultimately meaningless is way more beautiful and admirable than you being a cunt on the net.

>> No.1653411

>>1653306

...Aren't those the lyrics from Jesus Christ by Brand New?

Wat?

>> No.1653425
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1653425

>>1653300
>>1653306
>>1653297
Oh look, deep'n'edgy shit.

>> No.1653426

>>1653391

If you give a man a fish...

Logically speaking, the only justified statement we can make is that the current agricultural system coupled with the current socio/economic/political system are less than satisfactory (for some people).

So in the end, everyone would have to make some sacrifices as we made drastic changes to multiple levels of society. All for the benefit of those who are lesser than them. Of course this won't happen, so we should just enjoy our non-solutions. Like praying, hoping, wishing, etc.

>> No.1653432

>Why do people continue to spend thousands to millions of dollars taking classes in Literature, Philosophy, and Humanities?
I'm studying it for free (scholarship)

>why don't you choose a major that actually ties into a useful skill,
I don't want to be useful, I want YOU to be useful to me. I prefer to spend my life reading about things that really interest to me and having fun.
>or at least knowledge that doesn't make you sound like some kind of useless pedant incapable of making so much as a single contribution to society.
Fuck society. I'm an useless pedant, a leech, an enemy of this society. And proud of it.
Keep wasting your life with your boring engineering to improve my life, you filthy lemming. Jelly much?

>> No.1653456
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>> No.1653953

>>1653296
Nothing wrong with pursuing your interests. There's no need to pay tens of thousands of dollars obtaining a useless degree, though. You wouldn't be any better off than someone who just studied on their own.

>> No.1653958

i went to a two year community college for a useful degree i saved a bunch of cash and i read on the side

enjoy ur debt fags

>> No.1653965

Everyone knows getting a degree in the humanities is inherently selfish but why get angry over it? as long as they are willing to pay out the ass for for it and the university can use that money to pay for better equipment for people that want to contribute to the progress of society, let them waste their life.

>> No.1653974

>>1653965
>learn how to live better for the rest of your life
>waste of life
symptomatic of today's kids

>> No.1653975

>>1653274
>practical application
>useful skill
>useless pedant
>contribution to society

Don't really care about being useful or contributing to society. You sciencefags can have your social teleology bullshit all to yourselves.

>> No.1653981
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1653981

The human race is filled with passion.

Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life.

But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.

>> No.1653983

Why do people pay thousands of dollars for oil paints on canvas?

Why do people pay thousands of dollars for metallic ores in circular shapes?

it's all about the purchaser's value. Not yours.

>> No.1653986

>>1653958
I went to a four-year college for free, got my "useless" philosophy degree,and now I write the TeeVee shows you watch.

Enjoy your pretentious enjoyment of your sub-standard degree based apparently entirely on what you paid for it.

>> No.1653987

>>1653986
tv is stupid i only watch like 3 shows

u mad

>> No.1653988

>>1653958
what degree im doing a 2 year degree for programming, seemed like a good choice

>> No.1653994

Books does improve my life, I like to read. Writer are useful to me in this way. Some people need this kind of entertainment and intellectual stimulation, otherwise life would be less worthwhile for them.

>> No.1654000

Chemical Engineering/Chemistry double major grad school applicantfag here.

Reading is fun. I'll do my process engineering bit, make ExxonMobil or whoever a few million dollars, and then read and learn all I want comfortably.


Also humanities majors are just mentally incapable of being useful to society, it isn't their fault.

>> No.1654010

"i judge everything in the world based on its utility because i have silicon and transistors for a brain, beep boop" - an engineering student

>> No.1654017

Practical fields are there so that we can enjoy cultural fields, cultural and social fields don't need to contribute to practical fields.

Philosophy isn't inconsequential, it's just not consequential where you want it to be.

>> No.1654019

I like how people who get useless degrees like to pretend hard science majors are incapable of creative expression. I know a lot more creative biochem majors than reasonably intelligent lit majors.

>> No.1654020

>>1654019
that's not really relevant to the discussion

>> No.1654021

Does it depend on where you go? I'm shooting for an English degree from Berkeley (waiting to hear back)

it's the best English program in the country, and if I graduate from Berkeley, I'm still graduating with chemical engineers

>> No.1654031

>>1654020
It's entirely relevant to the discussion.

The only justification people seem to have for their worthless degrees is they think society really needs them to know everything about the philosophical relevance of seinfeld to keep them "human". That's complete garbage and the worst kind of self serving rationale.

>> No.1654032

>>1654019

i like you're trying to defend the study of hard science with anecdotal evidence

>> No.1654036

>>1654032
anecdotal arguments only deserve anecdotal evidence in response.

>> No.1654037

>>1654031
>justification
>worthless

Who the fuck am I supposed to justify my choice of study to, exactly? Society can fuck right off.

>> No.1654040

>>1654031
>>1654031
what precisely gives a degree worth, since you've apparently objectively determined it

>> No.1654046

>>1654037
That's what I want you to do and why I posted in the first place. I don't care if you just piss around for a few years and walk out with nothing to show for it but don't sit there and pretend you are doing anything for anyone but yourself.

>> No.1654049

>>1654040
literally any actual science major.

>> No.1654058

Ok, lit major in progress here. I'm doing this because I love literature, and want to teach so I can spread my love of a beautiful but dieing art. How am I less useful to society then someone who majors in engineering, law, chemistry, etc. and then goes to work for some huge corporation? I think the way you choose to use your degree is about a thousand times more important than what you actually get a degree in.

>> No.1654070

Majoring in philosophy is beneficial for those who don't have an inherent interest in it. I think someone who possesses a scientifically inclined mind could learn a lot from studying philosophy.

The same goes for those without an inherent interest in science. Someone with artistic (read: philosophical) inclination will benefit much more from an academic pursuit of science than he would from a degree that suits his area of interest.

A philosophy degree teaches you how to ask the right questions, and a science degree teaches you how to answer them. Cross-pollination is essential to intellectual wholeness.

>> No.1654071

>>1654058
I think humanities degrees are basically useless with the sole exception of those that wish to teach. It's a noble profession and I would argue, separate from people that just want to write sitcoms or argue about free will without having to cite wikipedia on the internet.

>> No.1654072

Fuck the police nigger I will pay millions (lol) of dollars to study Literature and Philosophy and not give a fuck. Have fun contributing to society, faggot. I'll just be doing whatever the fuck I want 'cause I'm better than you.

>> No.1654076

I care about what's true more than about what's useful, so I chose philosophy over science like any reasonable person.

>> No.1654080

>philosophy major
>reasonable
lol'd hard

>> No.1654085

>>1654080

Glad I could help.

>> No.1654123

>>1654070

YES.

>> No.1654126

science is ORIGINATED by philosophy uncultured swine

>> No.1654129

>OK you've graduated from sixth form college, what do you want to do?
Well I hate mathematics, found computer science boring, realised psychology is only interesting in small doses and philosophy is not my cup of tea.

I don't want to go into medicine because sick people repulse me and I hate to see blood.

Law is tedious. History is boring. Geography can suck my dick. Chemistry is cool but I couldn't see caring enough to carry on a 5 year course. Engineering doesn't appeal to me. Architecture was a 7 year course in a field I'm only interested in for the art. Art History is interesting but limited. Film courses are a joke at my university.

Classical Literature was what my Uni was best at, one of the best in the country for it, and it appealed to me at the time because it encompassed a few of the things I wanted to learn while at university.

You don't go to university just for the credentials. If I only wanted that I wouldn't be at university, anyway. I'd be out there working my way up, getting a head start in the workplace.

If you think most employers take intellectuals over experienced people you have a lot to learn about the workplace my fickle anon.

>> No.1654139

>>1654076
oh god, please tell me you're joking

>> No.1654161

>>1654139
I'll play Devil's Advocate, here.

If you only have one life isn't it better to devote it to something that you find fulfilling rather than pandering to what society expects you to do?

Philosophy, poetry, paintings, sculpture, video games... These things are not useful to society but they help mankind advance as a species.

It may hurt every bone in your body to think that not everyone contributes to the thing they benefit from, but the whole point of it is that you are meant to share these advancements with others, that's what the free market is for.

>> No.1654168

>>1654139

Nope. Scientific theories are useful, no doubt about that. But "This theory is useful, therefore it's true" is not a valid inference, and until someone solves the problem of induction, there is no good reason to think that scientific theories are actually true in addition to being useful.

Of course, it's still important for people to study science. It produces a lot of worthwhile things. But I don't want to believe useful falsehoods.

>> No.1654170

>>1654161
>These things are not useful to society
>but they help mankind advance as a species

wat

>> No.1654172

>>1654139
obviously

>> No.1654174

>>1654076
>I care about what's true more than about what's useful

That's like saying that we must care first of know the origin of the universe than eat at lunch.
We live in a pragmatic society, so we need to know things that will improve our way of live. Personally, I find this in Philosophy with the ways of life the greeks had.

>so I chose philosophy over science like any reasonable person.

Two things, first, in their origins, "science" was a part of the philosophy, so, personally, I would say that they go by the hand. Also, "reasonable person", in our society, is who choses a major that will bring money, follows the law, is social, is educated, etc; Not the person that lives for his thoughts.

>> No.1654179

>>1654168
That's just a long, drawn-out way of saying you believe the empirical method is flawed/ not reliable enough to claim "what we see is what's real".

That doesn't mean you can't do science. That just means you can't go around like Richard Dawkins, drawing conclusions left and right based (fairly enough) on evidence because you believe it is untrue.

I am not an Engineer because I don't like Maths. No shame in admitting that, at least I have the potential to get laid, now.

>> No.1654189

What has science and technology accomplished in the last 50 decade that has truly advanced and benefited society?

>> No.1654194

>>1654189
no 50, just decade.

>> No.1654202

>>1654179

>That's just a long, drawn-out way of saying you believe the empirical method is flawed/ not reliable enough to claim "what we see is what's real".

Not quite. The problem arises when generalizing beyond "what we see."

>That doesn't mean you can't do science.

Yes, I know. Maybe you should read my post again.

>> No.1654218

>>1654189
http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/PublicHealth/17594

Google motherfucker, do you speak it?

>> No.1654223

>>1654189
What has literature done?

>> No.1654232

>>1654223

idk maybe provided the world with beauty and unique insights into the human condition? punkass bich

>> No.1654240

>>1654223
Literature brought us flying cars before science did.

>> No.1654245

>>1654240
And submarines!