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Orsorum

Lifer
Dec 26, 2001
27,631
5
81
Originally posted by: Skoorb
I got a BSc in psyc. It's a retarded discipline for a job, but it's served me sufficiently well.

Yeah, the requirements for the B.S. in Psych at the UW are easssy.
 

edro

Lifer
Apr 5, 2002
24,326
68
91
Wow... all you guys saying engineering is harder than any other major... you need to grow up.

Engineering is difficult, yes... for some people. To me, engineering and math is difficult, but not NEARLY as difficult as biology or foreign language. I am very good at cognative reasoning and mechanical knowledge, but I have the worst memory of anyone I know when it comes to names and objects' names. Therefore, learning anatomy, history, biology, foreign language and anything needed with memorization, I am horrible. Does that mean I am stupid? No... (hopefully)

Everyone learns differently, and we all have a different set of abilities. Learn a little diversity... damn.
 

IgorFL

Senior member
Jul 23, 2001
351
1
0
Originally posted by: Orsorum
Seriously, it's like someone is wasting their money in many ATOTers' eyes if they don't get an engineering or B.S. in Mathematics degree. Now I will say that I don't regard someone who takes 5 years to get a creative writing degree to be all that wise (friend of mine is paying $20,000 in tuition/year for five years to finish a Creative Writing degree... :confused: ), but I don't discount their opinion simply because they suck at math. A good friend of mine majored in English, and while I wouldn't go to her for advice on engineering questions (her husband's the CE), I still regard her as being intelligent, well-educated, and well-rounded.

Are ATOTers arrogant without cause, or is there merit to their snobbery?



It's just complete ignorance.

Here are some hard facts that many ATOT'ers would find hard to accept:

Music/dance conservatories such as Juilliard and Curtis are, by far, more demanding of their students than any engineering or science major.

Many students who choose careers in the arts and humanities have the intellectual ability to study a math-oriented field, if they wanted to. However, they choose to study their fields due to love for the subject matter, not for money. (One example is music... Most Ph.D. candidates in music theory produce dissertations that include extremely advanced concepts in mathematics.)

Likewise, many students who choose careers in the sciences would have weaknesses exposed if they were forced to study in a humanities major. The capacity for abstract thought and advanced communication are not generally prized in the scientific world.

Every college has its share of easy and difficult majors, but the level of committment required varies quite widely from school to school.
 

Schrodinger

Golden Member
Nov 4, 2004
1,274
0
0
I'd like to know why so many engineers around here feel they can talk sh!t about science majors ;)

"You're not in chemical or electrical engineering? Pffft you're stupid!" :p

Engineering disciplines may have a larger workload (no one doubts that)... but in terms of the most difficult content requiring deeper thought, analysis and reasoning? That goes to other fields.

I find that math and bio majors in particular get knocked around by engineers but thats just my personal observation.
 

Reckoner

Lifer
Jun 11, 2004
10,851
1
81
I got a B.S. in Information Systems. I don't really think I learned all that much knowledge-wise from my 4 years in college. Instead, I think the real rewards I gained from college is time management skills, becoming an adult, and being able to focus on work with all the distractions involved. Those were the most rewarding parts of college, not hearing a professor drone over a topic for an hour.
 

TheLonelyPhoenix

Diamond Member
Feb 15, 2004
5,594
1
0
Originally posted by: IgorFL
It's just complete ignorance.

Here are some hard facts that many ATOT'ers would find hard to accept:

Music/dance conservatories such as Juilliard and Curtis are, by far, more demanding of their students than any engineering or science major.

Many students who choose careers in the arts and humanities have the intellectual ability to study a math-oriented field, if they wanted to. However, they choose to study their fields due to love for the subject matter, not for money. (One example is music... Most Ph.D. candidates in music theory produce dissertations that include extremely advanced concepts in mathematics.)

Likewise, many students who choose careers in the sciences would have weaknesses exposed if they were forced to study in a humanities major. The capacity for abstract thought and advanced communication are not generally prized in the scientific world.

Every college has its share of easy and difficult majors, but the level of committment required varies quite widely from school to school.

As this fvcktard (who obviously knows nothing about what is required in engineering) has demonstrated, EVERYONE thinks they have it worse off than the next guy. I'm an engineer. Its hard. But I'm not going to go tell anyone that they don't work as hard as me, or that my line of work requires skills they'll never have, because I could never know that unless I was actually in their profession. Nor would I try to tell them the "Here are some hard facts that many ATOT'ers would find hard to accept" (btw, I knew your post was going to be filled with bullshit as soon as I read that).
 

UglyCasanova

Lifer
Mar 25, 2001
19,275
1,361
126
Its taking me 5 years to get a degree, and all I'm going to end up with I think is general studies. :p

I don't think I'm dumb though, just stupid. I used to be awesome at math and physics and computers and the like in HS, but alas I partied way to much when I got to college. And being in graphic design for 2 years I can say that yeah it's not the hardest thing ever by far, but it's also something that not everyone can just do either. I'm not saying that I had the workload of an engineer (I had a sh!tload of projects to do, but I'm sure they were more enjoyable than staring at a book for hours on end), but I just don't see many engineering students being able to cut it in the graphic design program. Even the geeks that like to draw anime, or actually ESPECIALLY the geeks that like to draw anime!


I hate anime!!!
 

alphatarget1

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2001
5,710
0
76
Originally posted by: UglyCasanova
the workload of an engineer (I had a sh!tload of projects to do, but I'm sure they were more enjoyable than staring at a book for hours on end), but I just don't see many engineering students being able to cut it in the graphic design program. Even the geeks that like to draw anime, or actually ESPECIALLY the geeks that like to draw anime!


I hate anime!!!

You can't do engineering just by staring at a book for hours.
 

Orsorum

Lifer
Dec 26, 2001
27,631
5
81
Originally posted by: poopaskoopa
That's not exclusive to ATOT at all. If you knew anyone in engineering majors you'd know this.

To a certain extent you're correct, seeing as how a number of my close friends are engineers. However, their good-natured bantering in no way equals the unabashed superiority complex that ATOT displays as a whole. With one exception, but he's an acerbic guy as it is, I think he'd have the same ego regardless of his major.
 

UglyCasanova

Lifer
Mar 25, 2001
19,275
1,361
126
Originally posted by: alphatarget1
Originally posted by: UglyCasanova
the workload of an engineer (I had a sh!tload of projects to do, but I'm sure they were more enjoyable than staring at a book for hours on end), but I just don't see many engineering students being able to cut it in the graphic design program. Even the geeks that like to draw anime, or actually ESPECIALLY the geeks that like to draw anime!


I hate anime!!!

You can't do engineering just by staring at a book for hours.

And you can't do graphic design just by being able to draw Goku. People like to simplify things based on what they see, and always assume something is easier than it is. Now I want to know who engineered Cadbury Eggs. Those things are crazy.
 

Orsorum

Lifer
Dec 26, 2001
27,631
5
81
Originally posted by: PaulNEPats
I got a B.S. in Information Systems. I don't really think I learned all that much knowledge-wise from my 4 years in college. Instead, I think the real rewards I gained from college is time management skills, becoming an adult, and being able to focus on work with all the distractions involved. Those were the most rewarding parts of college, not hearing a professor drone over a topic for an hour.

Right. To be honest, I'm sure if I'd double-majored in Acctg and IS I'd feel the same way. However, I have a background in computational economics and mathematics as well as accounting, and I do think that has given me a much deeper analytical skill set than the average accounting major.
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
just remember, you don't have to be academically smart or have accolades to be successful / happy. I don't think you should care what people who think that (the degrees) say.
 

Orsorum

Lifer
Dec 26, 2001
27,631
5
81
Originally posted by: rh71
just remember, you don't have to be academically smart or have accolades to be successful / happy. I don't think you should care what people who think that (the degrees) say.

I don't, necessarily. I'm confident in my own educational breadth and depth. More of a curiosity.
 

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
50,879
4,268
126
I have more education than God, and I have learned that I hardly know anything.

OT is full of people who know less than they think they know, and that gives them the latitude to believe they are in fact superior.

All that to say they have high levels of assholeyness :p
 

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
167
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
Originally posted by: Schrodinger
I'd like to know why so many engineers around here feel they can talk sh!t about science majors ;)

"You're not in chemical or electrical engineering? Pffft you're stupid!" :p

Engineering disciplines may have a larger workload (no one doubts that)... but in terms of the most difficult content requiring deeper thought, analysis and reasoning? That goes to other fields.

I find that math and bio majors in particular get knocked around by engineers but thats just my personal observation.

I've done both: math and engineering. While getting my B.S. in math, I watched the majority of engineering students struggle far more than the math students in the "lower" level math classes such as differential equations. Having done both, I can assure you I can handle the engineering. But, I've met a LOT of engineering students (not to say it necessarily applies to the engineering majors/graduates here) who definitely couldn't have handled the higher level math classes.
 

alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
3,915
0
0
accounting and law are two professions people shouldn't put down

they are licensed professions that have the power to put the geeks out of business by outsourcing work overseas, but keep their jobs
 

AtlantaBob

Golden Member
Jun 16, 2004
1,034
0
0
It's just complete ignorance.

Here are some hard facts that many ATOT'ers would find hard to accept:

Music/dance conservatories such as Juilliard and Curtis are, by far, more demanding of their students than any engineering or science major.

Many students who choose careers in the arts and humanities have the intellectual ability to study a math-oriented field, if they wanted to. However, they choose to study their fields due to love for the subject matter, not for money. (One example is music... Most Ph.D. candidates in music theory produce dissertations that include extremely advanced concepts in mathematics.)

Likewise, many students who choose careers in the sciences would have weaknesses exposed if they were forced to study in a humanities major. The capacity for abstract thought and advanced communication are not generally prized in the scientific world.

Every college has its share of easy and difficult majors, but the level of committment required varies quite widely from school to school.

Quoted for truth. Sometimes, people have the intellectual capacity to do something, and they just don't like it. If it doesn't stimulate them or entertain them, they shouldn't do it.

That being said, it is much easier on the whole to produce some publishable-level BS work in the humanities. The subjective nature of the disciplines involved is generally responsible for that, as is the (sometimes) lax nature of those in the discipline who are more inclined to advance their own political ideology (be it conservative, or Marxist) than search for Truth.

However, I would argue that to compile a serious, scholarly work that would say, adress the rise of Modernity as a concept, and tease out the effects that that it has had on the last 150-200 years are so, including developments in science, religion, literature, the fine arts, philosophy, etc.--that would be a work that couldn't be replicated by most engineers, or any one else onthe planet.

In short, while it's much easier to BS in the humanities than in engineering, I'd argue that it's also harder to do serious, impressive work in the humanities.

Oh, and one more thing that may account for the difference. While engineers are rightly proud of the math and science classes that they've taken as preparation for their work, humanities majors aren't often required to take the classes that are, IMO, necessary for serious work in their discipline (e.g. 3-5 semester long, college-level courses in the following fields: Philosophy, Literature, Art History, Music, Religion, general History, and Economics; they should also have competence in at least one foreign language, and understand chemistry and math to a reasonable degree. For example, they should understand the concept of an integral, and know what integration does, even if they have to go to a book to look up how to integrate sin(x) + cos(x).