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[-] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

ironically philosophy majors perform better on graduate school entrance exams like the LSAT than most other majors, and philosophy graduates tend to be more successful and be better earners than business major graduates

arugably, philosophy is one of the better majors in terms of outcomes

https://philosophy.unc.edu/undergraduate/the-major/why-major-in-philosophy/

[-] tux7350@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Don't ya think this might be a bit bias? They have a vested interest to sell you a philosophy degree.

[-] eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 39 minutes ago

I used my philosophy of science classwork all the time in my engineering career.

What constitutes proof? What kinds of questions can you answer with data? When do we consider a pattern of behavior to represent the existence of some entity?

Being able to think about these kinds of questions with clarity is really helpful in diagnosing problems in large systems.

[-] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 1 points 31 minutes ago

I’ve worked with a few philosophy majors in various roles and they were more thoughtful about things. Like they learned how to think, not just what to think.

[-] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 55 minutes ago* (last edited 55 minutes ago)

yes, though the facts and studies they link to remain true regardless - this is the strongest argument for getting a philosophy degree, it makes sense they present it

[-] commiunism@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 2 hours ago

Learned CS/Coding at school, ended up with a factory job in manufacturing.

The meme is right, it is a pretty balling existence all things considered

[-] muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 hours ago

Going to college purely for a career is a hell of a gamble and the most likely positive outcomes are in fields where everyone fucking hates you (business majors, etc).

Go to improve yourself. Learn all you are interested in. Experience new things. For most jobs, nobody cares what your major is anyway. They care that you can focus on a long term goal and achieve it and a college degree demonstrates that.

[-] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 16 points 6 hours ago

my boss got mad when trying to use the "Socratic method" on a project that I was contradicting them and questioning their every statement

?!?!?!!?

[-] bennieandthez@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 4 hours ago

why study when you can become a manosphere grifter for free?

[-] GraniteM@lemmy.world 148 points 10 hours ago

I talked to a guy who had a master's degree in philosophy. He told me he worked for an investment firm.

Me: What do you do there, convince investment bankers not to kill themselves?

Him: Yeah, pretty much.

Me: 😳

[-] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 14 points 4 hours ago

convince investment bankers not to kill themselves?

Sometimes there is great value in a job done poorly.

[-] TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 8 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

I have a masters in philosophy.

I work in IT security and compliance. I'm getting promoted way faster than most of my peers who have masters in technology... because they are really bad at understanding new concepts and ideals and how to apply them. Their mental flexibility is limited.

[-] kkj@lemmy.dbzer0.com 133 points 9 hours ago

So there is a way to use your philosophy degree for evil.

[-] icelimit@lemmy.ml 37 points 9 hours ago

In this case, chaotic neutral i think.

[-] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 24 points 7 hours ago

Lawful evil

[-] CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 33 points 8 hours ago

I'd think it'd be more ethical to do the exact opposite.

[-] xylol@leminal.space 19 points 8 hours ago

But then who would pay you

[-] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 23 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

👋

I think we could crowd fund something...

[-] Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org 44 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

I'm not kidding I studied philosophy and now genuinely work in a factory as a mechanic. I've made it big according to this.

[-] Purple_drink@lemmy.world 8 points 5 hours ago

I majored in Philosophy and am now a commercial HVAC mechanic. 🤷

[-] Bo7a@lemmy.ca 3 points 5 hours ago

I have a degree in philosophy and I draw PowerPoint decks for other nerds to use and turn into data platforms that I used to build myself...

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[-] GongFuFlashSteep@slrpnk.net 10 points 7 hours ago

This is a funny meme but biotechnology manufacturing is big worldwide and needs STEM degrees for entry level

[-] MissJinx@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Look, as a 40yo I have to advise new kids to yes, do what you want, but research the market first. If you want to do Philosophy to be a teacher great, but if not mayber try other areas like socialology or history that have a slightly better market..Or just learn IT because that's the future and you are never out of a job

[-] Revan343@lemmy.ca 16 points 3 hours ago

Computer science graduates have one of the highest rates of unemployment

[-] TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 23 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

or just study what you want and get job skills separately.

our education system shouldn't be teaching job skills anyway. it should be teaching higher order skills and the jobs should be training you at the specific job. most of the job skills you would learn in school will also be a 5-10 years out of date when you enter the workforce. or, if you are really lucky, your company will will be operating on skills from 20-30 years ago and your 10 year old skills will make you seem like a genius

[-] exasperation@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 hours ago

This often cited study from 2012 reported that something like only 27% of those with bachelor's degrees were working in a field related to their major. It's over 10 years old but there's no reason to assume that the general broad principles don't still apply in the modern economy.

University educations have never been intended to be mere vocational skills programs. Being able to research, read, and write critically are important broad skills that are useful in life (including in the workforce), and most jobs out in the world don't actually require significant specialized education.

People who work in sales, management, design, logistics, event planning, contracting, marketing, advertising, finance, real estate, and things like that don't need particular degrees to do those jobs, but most of the white collar world has degrees. There's nothing wrong with majoring in English literature and then going into software sales, or majoring in history and going into logistics, or majoring in philosophy and becoming a journalist. It's not like you get a free pass to stop learning once you're in an industry, and keeping up means learning things that weren't even known when you were in college.

It's liberating when you realize that the choices you made at 18 don't box you in for life. You have the flexibility to make career changes into different industries, different roles, different cities, and different employers when you realize that most jobs can be learned as you go.

And most jobs suck, so it's worth finding something that fits your strengths and ignores your weaknesses, so that it's just easier for you to do.

[-] Kage520@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

Not really. I'm not sure how it ended up so rounded, but getting a degree is more than just "get skills for the job". When you are getting any bachelor's degree, you also have to take a certain amount of history, music appreciation, etc, heck my school even required lifetime fitness. It's also learning alongside your peers to suffer together, I mean work together.

Also, for something like engineering, you don't want a job to teach the basics of safely designing a building. You want that in school so when your job asks you to do something dumb, you can explain to them why it is unsafe and correctly refuse.

I like how my friend put it: "You COULD go to a technical school to get a job, but you wouldn't be very interesting to talk to."

Ugh and I just imagined if they made something like "Walgreens pharmacy school" that would train you to be a pharmacist but only for Walgreens. Imagine if your ability and certification to work in any field was tied to a specific company. No way to leave to CVS or whatever unless you go to "CVS pharmacy school". Sounds awful.

[-] TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

that's not true. maybe you were required to do that, but every school is different and maybe have entire dropped the trad liberal arts or general ed requirements. my college had no such requirements you should take whatever you wanted as long as you had a major.

some schools still also only offer liberal arts style degrees and have no technical degrees.

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[-] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 54 points 10 hours ago

A philosophy degree might actually stand out more in today's job market than a CS one.

[-] GamingChairModel@lemmy.world 30 points 9 hours ago

I was a dual major Electrical Engineering/Philosophy. The rigorous logic in some branches of philosophy was very helpful for programming principles. And the the philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of mind has overlaps with and supplements modern AI theory pretty well.

I'm out of the tech world now but if I were hiring entry level software developers, I'd consider a philosophy degree to be a plus, at least for people who have the threshold competency in actual programming.

[-] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

Most of my programming career was spent working for small consulting firms that created custom software for (relatively) small clients. The most important skill by far was the ability to talk to customers (and listen to them as well) in order to understand what they needed the custom software to actually do. Not only is this skill not taught in the Computer Science curriculum, it's not even conceived of as a thing. My bosses were constantly hiring freshly-minted CS grads and could not understand why I rejected having them placed on my team. I instead always looked for people that had experience not just with programming but with things outside of the programming world entirely.

That being said, I sure would not have wanted a freshly-minted philosophy grad either, for the same reason.

[-] sobchak@programming.dev 14 points 9 hours ago

Yeah, the CS head at the small college I went to was also the Philosophy head (he got his doctorate in philosophy). The same formal logic class was a requirement for the CS, philosophy, and law degrees.

[-] redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com 43 points 10 hours ago

I wasn't sure if you meant Computer Science or Cyber Security. Then I remembered it doesn't matter.

[-] TheOctonaut@mander.xyz 22 points 9 hours ago

CS is Computer Science, Cyber Security is abbreviated as CyberSecs, Google it

[-] redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 5 hours ago

Coming soon, C.S. degrees from Trump University

Cock Sucking, the most stable, highest paying field in this economy. Enroll Today!

Dual credit classes available to highschool students at scenic Maralago

[-] Taldan@lemmy.world 9 points 8 hours ago

I have a masters in cybersecurity, and I see some people abbreviating is as CS sometimes, and it always bothers me. CS = Computer Science

[-] redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 5 hours ago

I too have seen it on occasion. But in the current market you're best putting "Masters in C.S. from Standford" and hoping they interpret that to mean Cock Sucking. A significantly more stable and currently higher paying field.

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[-] danc4498@lemmy.world 4 points 6 hours ago

My kids will get a degree in prompt engineering.

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[-] lemmyseizethemeans@lemmygrad.ml 5 points 6 hours ago

Philosophy major now running an IT department at a major university checking in

[-] curiousaur@reddthat.com 4 points 6 hours ago

Philosophy major Senior Software engineer.

[-] Slovene@feddit.nl 2 points 6 hours ago

🫡 Majors ...

[-] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 27 points 10 hours ago

Looking down on manufacturing jobs is so cool.

[-] TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

everyone looks down on people they feel are social inferior to them.

job, education, grammar, race, sex, take your pick.

[-] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

job, education, grammar, race, sex, take your pick.

I'm gonna go with "calf muscles".

[-] TheBat@lemmy.world 20 points 9 hours ago

How else are you supposed to look at conveyor belt?

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this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2025
851 points (99.3% liked)

Science Memes

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