[cpr]

> When 1200 people compete for 1 open internship position, can I really afford to waste my time like this?

If you think of education as trying to lead people into being whole humans, seems like literature and philosophy (properly taught) are some of most critical subjects.

[SketchySeaBeast]

I want this to be true, my arts degree says I even put my money where my mouth is, but university has largely become viewed as vocational training. You do it not to become whole, you do it to become employable.

[_lvbh]

I'll do that when I can be confident in my ability to afford food. Being a "whole human" just isn't a priority when you might literally become homeless

[sarchertech]

This feeling will never go away because it’s not caused by circumstances, it’s caused by anxiety.

You’re a student ostensibly studying computer science at University. Taking a few hours a week to stop a smell the roses has zero chance of being the thing that pushes you into homelessness.

When you start working the anxiety won’t go away. You’ll always have the next thing to worry about. What if I lose this job—I only have 6 months of savings. Then you get married and it becomes—if I lose my job my spouse will divorce me. You have a kid and it becomes “Sorry honey I have to work late. Dinner with the family isn’t a priority when the kids could literally become homeless if I lose my job and we can’t afford good schools.”

You can’t fix the anxiety by accomplishing the next goal. It’s never going to be enough. You have to learn to live with some uncertainty or you’ll end up miserable.

Also from a more practical perspective, there are advantages to being a more well rounded person. The best programmer is rarely the highest paid. Soft skills are at least as important. Being a well rounded human is a big part of those soft skills.

I’m not saying you necessarily need to be well versed in literary fiction. But having a wide breadth of knowledge comes in handy.

[Kerrick]

Sadly this is true. I make about $200k/yr gross, have a working software engineer for a wife, and have enough in retirement that I could “coast” on contributions for the next 30 years and be fine in retirement. I still can’t be rid of the financial anxiety I started with. My childhood involved a homeless shelter, my college years included struggling to make rent and buy food, and those experiences forever colored how I see and treat money.

[lotsofpulp]

>You can’t fix the anxiety by accomplishing the next goal. It’s never going to be enough. You have to learn to live with some uncertainty or you’ll end up miserable.

There is definitely a difference in quality of life due to less worrying once you or your network have sufficient assets and passive income such that short term volatility does not mean you or your kids go hungry/shelter-less.