[abnry]

It brings up the old joke about being a philosophy major: "Two things to do with a Phd in Philosophy: 1. Teach. 2. Pose the question: ‘But do you know why you want fries with that?’"

College is an investment that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. When you invest that much money, you should expect a ROI. If you can't even put roof over your head or eat with that investment, then it is really hard to say it was a good idea.

[entropicdrifter]

Philsophy majors are a common target for ridicule, but the fact of the matter is that corporations go out of their way to hire Philosophy majors to be problem-solvers of various types because they essentially have a degree in critical thinking.

[ThrowawayR2]

They'd be better off hiring people with engineering degrees (non-software). That's applied critical thinking and creative problem solving all in one.

I really don't know why there's this insistence that humanities has a monopoly on teaching critical thinking.

[fzeroracer]

You realize that there are different kinds of applied critical thinking, yes?

Someone that's good at critically analyzing software doesn't make them good at being able to understand why users might be drawn to a product. Nor does it make them able to design UI that won't frustrate the average user.

Humanities doesn't have a monopoly on critical thinking, but you'd be a fool to believe that it doesn't aid critical thinking. The best software engineers I've worked with were those that came from other professions whom could apply other ways of approaching a problem compared to others.

To put it bluntly, if you hire a bunch of engineers they will design a lightbulb that no one can figure out how to screw in.

[lordnacho]

What's wrong with software engineers? Surely there's a fair bit of critical thinking involved there, too?

[ThrowawayR2]

I meant that if employers were looking for people who were adept at critical thinking and software developers didn't fit the bill (the original posters implication) that there was a category of people who would be even more adept at it than philosophers. Sorry if I was unclear.

[jchrisa]

As a Philosophy major who has succeeded in tech, I think tech would be better off with more humanities people involved. Writing code isn't the hard part, when you are solving big problems.

[abnry]

You certainly add a useful perspective, I am sure. However, by working in tech you aren't doing philosophy, you are doing tech.

[kmstout]

"I'm a philosophy major. That means I can think deep thoughts about being unemployed."

-- Bruce Lee