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/lit/ - Literature

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3878616 No.3878616 [Reply] [Original]

English PhDs should come with a disclaimer: "90% of you will be unemployable. Your professor who says that you are special and such a good writer that you deserve to give this a go is lying to you. You are not a particularly good writer. You have just internalized the art of flattering English PhDs, which is unfortunate, because they expect to get that done for free and have more than enough takers. Many people who are as talented as you are unemployed or underemployed, and their only opportunity to appreciate Foucault and Kafka is when they're applying for welfare benefits."

>> No.3878619

English undergrad is almost worse. Even by the standards of the humanities, which chiefly exist to certify that certain students managed to be mostly literate by senior year of high school, it tries to beat any love of the language out of you. By twist of fate and changing departmental policy, my sister (3 years my junior and a genuinely talented writer) and I ended up in the same "freshman" composition class. I phoned it in and got As and A+s, she slaved away on every essay and squeaked out a B-. She hadn't learned the bemused sneer yet. ("The author believes that the poor would better themselves through honest labor. One imagines an elf in Santa's workshop, quite appropriate since the benevolent employer is a myth but the unwavering sweatshop labor in the service of fulfilling the bourgeoises' consumerist desires is very real." <-- "OMG so nails it!!") After you've mastered the pseudointellectual bemused sneer, English class is your oyster. My sister refused to be cynical, grappled with the texts and worked out some genuinely beautiful prose, and barely passed. She figured it out in later years, graduated, and is currently deeply in debt after receiving a master's in an unrelated field after finding out, unsurprisingly, that a major in English makes you virtually unemployable. (One of many deep cuts along the way: she ended up working for our alma mater in a position which was, frankly, secretarial work, and was told, when she attempted to move into a permanent position, that secretaries at our alma mater should have graduate degrees because it would reflect poorly on the institution if they had just graduated in English.)

>> No.3878734

You nigga(s) mad and jaded as hell. I'll be over here loving what i'm doing, you go be wrong somewhere else.

>> No.3878744

thanks, i will

>> No.3878794

>>3878619
daaaaamnnn, somebody needs to cap dat shit for when liberal arts fags start getting uppity.


Anyways, for me, I always planned to go into something non-english related so it wasn't an issue, but I tutor in english and all the liberal arts types people are grammar nazi fucks that are only good at critiquing your spelling or the way you pronounce something...can't imagine being around them constantly, being graded by them, etc...

Criticism is truly for the soulless and depraved.
A degree in english = learning to be a critic fag.

If you want to write, buy a notebook and a pencil for 10 bucks and write. If you want to be a homosexual who can spell properly and talk shit about people who've done things with their lives, become an english major.

>> No.3878812

>>3878619
the "pseudo intellectual besumed sphere" is a good way of putting it

>> No.3878830
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3878830

>2013
>not studying philosophy or English then going to med/law school
>not realizing you can utilize your analytical skills to make money and have the sweg

shiggy du wop

>> No.3878853

Just get a PhD in math. Your guaranteed any job you want and 300K starting.

>> No.3878855

>>3878853

>implying anyone can "just get a PhD" in a subject like math

>> No.3879797

This was stolen from Hacker News, BTW
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5930640

Fucking be original, at least.

>> No.3879831

>>3878830
>2013
>going to law school

If you're even considering law school in this economy, you've already demonstrated a lack of the research, logic, and decision-making skills required to be a halfway-decent lawyer

Unless your parents are paying for it. If so, then knock yourself out, kid

>> No.3879848

>>3878855
>falling for this shitty may may
they are useless, thats why the 300k starting is funny

>> No.3879853

I'm doing Film Production in the UK. How fucked am I?

>> No.3879855

My dad is a scientist with a PhD and he's the head of his own research facility.

I used to lie to myself by saying "I'm smart, I'm just not good at science and math". Then I grew up a bit, and I can accept I'm simply not intelligent enough for math and science. I figured I would just get some journalism or english degree, before realizing those were as useful as nothing at all.

I think I'm going to kill myself.

>> No.3879858

>>3879855
You're not intelligent enough because you haven't tried to be. I am of the opinion that through simple willpower, people can be a hell of a lot smarter than they think they can. The brain is pliable as fuck.

>> No.3879878

>>3879853
You won't be able to get a high paying job and will be less qualified for the film industry than someone who does a humanity at oxbridge and watches the occasional movie.

>> No.3879901

>>3879855
Except that science and math is easy; and the majority of philosophy undergrads would rustle your dad's jimmies if the discourse would come to science and/or math at a deeper level.

You're an idiot and your dad is an idiot; for not raising/educating you properly.

>> No.3879910

>>3879901
>philosophy undergrads
>knowing shit about maths
>trying to find deeper meaning in everything

>> No.3879912

>>3879878

This couldn't be further from the truth. Knowledge is everything, qualifications are meaningless.

>> No.3879914

>>3879901
confirmed for lacking higher education. dear god this hurt to read. if troll 9/10

>> No.3879916

>>3879901
Nope.

>> No.3879926

>>3879855
Science and math yield readily to an interested and eager mind. My guess is you're not either. Turn your focus to something you are interested in. You can break your back and break your heart on a rock that big if you don't just step past it and keep going. learn what your good at and like, and pursue it.

>> No.3879927

>>3878853
my father had a Phd in math and he ended up working all his life in a community college teaching algebra and geometry with a 40k salary

>> No.3879930

>>3879910
Yes, not only philosophers (non-logicians and logicians), mathematicians, mathematicians-philosophers and philosophers-mathematicians have a much deeper understanding of math at the theoretical level, but they also acknowledge the ontological implications of math than any <insert-an-average-scientist-of-any-sort-here>

Did I burst your bubble?

>> No.3879940

>>3879914
>>3879916
Woah, look at all of those educated and bulletproof arguments!

I think it's time to go back to >>>/sci/, boys

>> No.3879946

I'll just leave this here, http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/google-leads-search-for-humanities-phd-graduates/416190.article

>> No.3879954

>>3879901
>Implying my father doesn't read philosophy

>> No.3879985

>>3879954
That's nice, but my point was -- why didn't he educate you in his spare time? What's up with that? You're simply reading the wrong stuff if you think you're not intelligent enough for math/science/philosophy.

Pick up logic -- logical intuitions can be trained and your cognitive abilities severely increased; you'll be amazed of how (almost) everything suddenly seems easy.

>> No.3880016
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3880016

>>3879985
Oh, I don't know, maybe he was busy with his fucking job, or something. Something along the lines of researching diseases that are becoming increasingly common and threatening to humanity like Alzheimer's, and didn't think it was necessary to spend all of his free time modelling the perfect thinker.

>> No.3880032

>>3880016
He couldn't have been that smart as Alzheimer's still exists.

>> No.3880170

>>3880016
Sucks to be you, then.
Parents who think along the lines of "we'll just give birth to this kid and send him/her to a school and everything will be alright," couldn't possibly be as smart as you praise them to be. True education is no where to be found in a high-school curriculum.

It's worth noting and remembering that a PhD doesn't necessarily make one not an idiot. (Not addressing your dad specifically)

>didn't think it was necessary
But this is tragic.

>spend all of his
>all
Now, where did you see me mentioning/suggesting that?

>> No.3880320

>>3879912
The movie industry is a business. Getting far in a business requires qualifications. Talent only matters once you are in a position to use it.

>> No.3880340

>>3880170
Why don't you go start a thread about how well your parents home schooled you?

>> No.3880379

Okay, I'll just be over here teaching.

>> No.3880385

America is just too fucking large.

>> No.3880391

>>3879848
>they are useless

No they're not. A math phd will open a lot of doors. 300k starting? No. But your pick of a host of interesting jobs? Yes. Of course, that's if you get your degree from a real school and not some dump in Africa.

>> No.3880398

>>3879946
>http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/google-leads-search-for-humanities-phd-graduates/416190

Interesting read.

>> No.3880407
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3880407

>>3880340
>your parents home schooled
Sadly, nothing of that sort happened.

>> No.3880417

>>3880407
Right, well I'm sure the rest of /lit/ would be thrilled to hear about how your parents taught you logic and how now you're a master of both ontology as well as science, and how everything comes easy to you.

>> No.3880434

>>3880417
I would actually, those posts are usually quite funny

>> No.3880435

>>3880417
>home schooling
>master anything
lellllllllll

>> No.3880450
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3880450

>>3880417
>Give a solid recommendation on how to comprehend science and math better
>Get nothing but a sarcastic hostility in return

It's ok. I can take it.

>> No.3880463

>>3879985
>Pick up logic

Is there a specific curriculum or set of textbooks that you would recommend?

>> No.3880483
File: 16 KB, 460x276, Classy Conrad.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3880483

>>3880450
>"I'm not smart enough at math"
>"Yes you are, all you have to do is study philosophy. Why didn't you dad teach you philosophy. My dad taught me philosophy, and look at me; I'm really good at having intellectually stimulating conversations with other insipid hipsters on /lit/."

No, that's not how it works. You cannot cease to be stupid by "picking up logic". I am not smart enough for hard sciences, and no level of home schooling would make me.

>> No.3880491

>>3880463
Virtually any modern textbook will suffice. Quine's Methods of Logic is p. good.

You can then move onto more advanced stuff once you've become literate in classical first-order logic.

>> No.3880510

>>3880483
>No, that's not how it works.
You cannot know how it works or how it doesn't work until you've made an effort and tried it.

>You cannot cease to be stupid by "picking up logic"
Take my advice and see it for yourself. I'll wager that it will unfuck your pseudo-stupidness.

>I am not smart enough for hard sciences, and no level of home schooling would make me.
Nonsense, unless you have an innate cognitive disability of some kind.

>> No.3880527

There's more to life than money. If you actually enjoyed literature you would realize this by now. From the tone of your posts, I don't think you enjoy anything except your delusions of grandeur.

>> No.3880530
File: 1.48 MB, 2560x1920, 2013-06-24 20.32.38.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3880530

Let's put your logic to the test, then. Here's part of one of my grade 11 physics tests.

>> No.3880540

>>3880530
You are incredibly stupid. Also b&.

>> No.3880547 [DELETED] 

>>3880530
Never said I was still in grade 11.

>> No.3880551

>>3880540
Never said I was still in grade 11. I had to open up my filing cabinet of school records and tests.

>> No.3880569

>>3880530
I didn't take physics in high school but my friends did advanced physics and had shit like this but 100x harder

>> No.3880573
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3880573

>>3880569
No doubt. But the point of my posts was that I was not intelligent enough hard sciences. Some tool said I was, if only I studied logic as claimed to. In fact, he said everything came easy to him.

Well, bro? It's 25 C outside, how fast is the train going?

>> No.3880581

>>3880491
>Quine's Methods of Logic is p. good.
I'll check it out, thanks.

>> No.3880648

>>3880551
bullshit. Mods, please ban this backpeddling cockmongerer.

>> No.3880762

>>3880648
>/lit/
>mods