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I was a philosophy major and I now work as a software developer. While my primary goal in studying philosophy wasn't to improve my chances at getting a job, my
by arota 13y ago
I was a philosophy major and I now work as a software developer. While my primary goal in studying philosophy wasn't to improve my chances at getting a job, my studies certainly prepared me for the problems I would face as a professional developer.
Learning how to think logically, approach complex problems, and structure coherent arguments, are important skills that you gain from studying philosophy. Perhaps this is why the mid-career median salary for a philosophy major is, according to PayScale Inc., more than that of several other science or business related majors (with only a bachelor's degree, 10 years after graduation) [1].
As an aside, philosophy and computer science aren't as unrelated as one might think; there are some interesting scholarly works that examine the philosophical foundations and implications of topics in computer science (android epistemology [2] is a good example).
[Unfortunately this comment is related more to the article title than the article content since the latter does not address this topic directly.]
[1] http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-Degrees_that_Pay_you_Back-sort.html http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-Degree...
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_epistemology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_epistemology
- pmiller2 13y ago>philosophy and computer science aren't as unrelated as one might think; There is some interesting category theory and set theory being done in philosophy departments.
- lists 13y agoYou weren't be referring to Quentin Meillassoux would you?
- konstantintin 13y agoI think the effect is overstated by selection and attrition. if you're not capable of thinking logically in the first place you probably will not choose to study philosophy or fail out if you do.
- logical42 13y agoI've always just considered programming to be applied philosophy.. insofar as philosophy is just the study of logic and reasoning.