5 ms·

I feel really sorry for the author and the author's parents. I know so many people who spent so much time and money on degrees like English literature, history,

I feel really sorry for the author and the author's parents. I know so many people who spent so much time and money on degrees like English literature, history, arts, sociology, etc. Today, most of them cannot find a job in any related field. In fact, I only know a single person who managed to make a good career out of studying a subject like that. As a teenager, I was close to choosing this type of major myself. Almost nobody tried to talk me out of it. Instead, there were many people around me who encouraged me to choose something I found interesting and let the rest take care of itself. Reading articles like this, it reinforces my belief that this is almost always terrible advice and those who say things like that to young people should feel ashamed.

brm 8y ago
There’s more to learning and the life of the mind than how much money it can make you. College shouldn’t entirely be a STEM trade school. Creativity and innovation require cross pollination and I bet if you look harder you find plenty of studio art majors and linguists and English majors doing just fine in the modern world. We can’t all be engineers but we can all learn to apply ourselves across disciplines and that works both ways. The problem seems to be that people believe that college is the only ticket they need and that they don’t need to apply themselves further or continue learning and adapting.
- skookumchuck 8y ago
  It would be sensible to google one's career prospects before taking on major debt.
- black6 8y ago
  You are absolutely right (I lament the passing of the classic, well-rounded liberal arts education) but you don't have to be an accounting major to realize racking up $100k in debt for an English lit degree just isn't wise.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- charmides 8y ago
  "College shouldn’t entirely be a STEM trade school." I appreciate the feedback, but here you are distorting my argument. There is not a binary choice between getting a STEM degree and going into debt for the rest of your life because you spent more than $100,000 on two English degrees. For instance, I think more people should consider learning a skilled trade. "I bet if you look harder you find plenty of studio art majors and linguists and English majors doing just fine in the modern world." There are millions of people with degrees in studio art and linguistics and of course plenty of them are doing just fine. That says little about the wisdom of pursuing such degrees. "The problem seems to be that people believe that college is the only ticket they need and that they don’t need to apply themselves further or continue learning and adapting." This I agree with.
- PhasmaFelis 8y ago
  > College shouldn’t entirely be a STEM trade school. Then colleges need to stop pitching themselves as the gateway to a career. People don't believe these things because they're stupid. They believe these things because colleges systematically lie to them.
  - HelloFellowDevs 8y ago
    I don't think the buck stops at college, we've even gotten to a point where HS/MS teachers are aggressively marketing for colleges as a way to an instant career.
ubernostrum 8y ago
This conception of education ... brings me at once to state my own view of the purpose of university training. It is exactly the opposite of that of the eminent and learned gentleman to whom I have referred. It is that the purpose of higher education is to unsettle the minds of young men, to widen their horizons, to inflame their intellects. And by this series of mixed metaphors I mean to assert that education is not to teach men facts, theories, or laws; it is not to reform them, or amuse them, or to make them expert technicians in any field; it is to teach them to think, to think straight, if possible; but to think always for themselves.
- dokein 8y ago
  Can you clarify: does inflaming one’s intellect require one to NOT understand what 6% of 200,000 is?
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]

brm 8y ago

There’s more to learning and the life of the mind than how much money it can make you. College shouldn’t entirely be a STEM trade school. Creativity and innovation require cross pollination and I bet if you look harder you find plenty of studio art majors and linguists and English majors doing just fine in the modern world. We can’t all be engineers but we can all learn to apply ourselves across disciplines and that works both ways. The problem seems to be that people believe that college is the only ticket they need and that they don’t need to apply themselves further or continue learning and adapting.

skookumchuck 8y ago
It would be sensible to google one's career prospects before taking on major debt.
black6 8y ago
You are absolutely right (I lament the passing of the classic, well-rounded liberal arts education) but you don't have to be an accounting major to realize racking up $100k in debt for an English lit degree just isn't wise.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
charmides 8y ago
"College shouldn’t entirely be a STEM trade school." I appreciate the feedback, but here you are distorting my argument. There is not a binary choice between getting a STEM degree and going into debt for the rest of your life because you spent more than $100,000 on two English degrees. For instance, I think more people should consider learning a skilled trade. "I bet if you look harder you find plenty of studio art majors and linguists and English majors doing just fine in the modern world." There are millions of people with degrees in studio art and linguistics and of course plenty of them are doing just fine. That says little about the wisdom of pursuing such degrees. "The problem seems to be that people believe that college is the only ticket they need and that they don’t need to apply themselves further or continue learning and adapting." This I agree with.
PhasmaFelis 8y ago
> College shouldn’t entirely be a STEM trade school. Then colleges need to stop pitching themselves as the gateway to a career. People don't believe these things because they're stupid. They believe these things because colleges systematically lie to them.
- HelloFellowDevs 8y ago
  I don't think the buck stops at college, we've even gotten to a point where HS/MS teachers are aggressively marketing for colleges as a way to an instant career.

ubernostrum 8y ago

This conception of education ... brings me at once to state my own view of the purpose of university training. It is exactly the opposite of that of the eminent and learned gentleman to whom I have referred. It is that the purpose of higher education is to unsettle the minds of young men, to widen their horizons, to inflame their intellects. And by this series of mixed metaphors I mean to assert that education is not to teach men facts, theories, or laws; it is not to reform them, or amuse them, or to make them expert technicians in any field; it is to teach them to think, to think straight, if possible; but to think always for themselves.

dokein 8y ago
Can you clarify: does inflaming one’s intellect require one to NOT understand what 6% of 200,000 is?
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]