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Maybe I didn't spend enough time in humanities courses (my engineering degree allowed for only 1 humanities course in 4 years), but let's be honest - there's a

Maybe I didn't spend enough time in humanities courses (my engineering degree allowed for only 1 humanities course in 4 years), but let's be honest - there's a remarkably large number of really stupid engineers. I don't mean stupid in the classic sense, since they can understand their discipline and perform their work, but they have zero intellectual interests or pursuits outside of their field. Try starting a discussion on politics or history or any of the other humanities topic, and you're not likely to get very far.

Apocryphon 15y ago
Or rather, they have a lot of opinions on politics or history, but also very uneducated ones.
chadgeidel 15y ago
Wow, my CS degree (at an engineering school) required 23 or 25 credits in the humanities.
pjscott 15y ago
Incidentally, it also works the other way around. There are a lot of people in every branch of the humanities who have no intellectual interests outside their field. Try starting a discussion about anything that isn't a humanities topic and see how far you get. Well-roundedness is not something one gets just from studying the humanities. Knowledge of science, mathematics, and basic engineering are also essential. This gets overlooked a lot in discussions where the issue is framed as "high salary versus a well-rounded education".
- m3koval 15y ago
  I agree. The term "well-rounded" is often bastardized to mean "well-versed in humanities." It is particularly noticeable in college: engineers are required to take a large number of humanities courses, but people studying liberal arts only have to take one or two technical courses. Because of this, the average engineer is exposed to both technical disciplines and the humanities, whereas the average liberal arts student only sees the humanities. Unless we redefine well-rounded in a way that is contrary to its original meaning, engineers may very well be more well-rounded than people studying humanities.

Apocryphon 15y ago

Or rather, they have a lot of opinions on politics or history, but also very uneducated ones.

chadgeidel 15y ago

Wow, my CS degree (at an engineering school) required 23 or 25 credits in the humanities.

pjscott 15y ago

Incidentally, it also works the other way around. There are a lot of people in every branch of the humanities who have no intellectual interests outside their field. Try starting a discussion about anything that isn't a humanities topic and see how far you get. Well-roundedness is not something one gets just from studying the humanities. Knowledge of science, mathematics, and basic engineering are also essential. This gets overlooked a lot in discussions where the issue is framed as "high salary versus a well-rounded education".

m3koval 15y ago
I agree. The term "well-rounded" is often bastardized to mean "well-versed in humanities." It is particularly noticeable in college: engineers are required to take a large number of humanities courses, but people studying liberal arts only have to take one or two technical courses. Because of this, the average engineer is exposed to both technical disciplines and the humanities, whereas the average liberal arts student only sees the humanities. Unless we redefine well-rounded in a way that is contrary to its original meaning, engineers may very well be more well-rounded than people studying humanities.