| Very interesting. This describes my coursework at Stanford almost exactly. My major was STS (Science, Technology, and Society) with a minor in psychology. Then I studied sociology in grad school. What I focused on was social influence, persuasion, and behavioral change. I took courses on negotiation, deception, cults, magic, minority influence, organizational development, group dynamics, arbitration, personality/social psychology, persuasive technology, and a ton more. I was a researcher in the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab for years. And I mixed it with practical applications of negotiations in the field. The coursework has helped me dramatically in understanding the motivations, attitudes, and behaviors of others. I still remember one of my Comm professors talking about how other technical disciplines tend to look down on areas like psych/comm. She said something I'll never forget: "The value isn't in the difficulty of the material, but the usefulness." I use my social psychology background in my work with people on iwillteachyoutoberich every day. |
People in hard sciences are typically elitist because they've had to prove themselves right up front. Making it through school is a more concrete accomplishment. Who knows if that psyc major will ever amount to anything.