more evidence against the liberal arts

[Fake Boris]

you've been missing me, haven't you?

[Elok]

Originally posted by Oncle Boris
Such as people who think that the problem of 'being' is limited to a difference between 'to be' and 'to exist'.

Huh? Have I given my rant about Parmenides of Elea here on 'Poly? If not, I'm afraid you've lost me. Actually, even if that is what you refer to, you're making no sense...

Kuci: Glad to hear it, assuming such a thing can get you employed just as well as a more "rounded" Bachelor of Science degree would.

[Kuciwalker]

Well, we have three or four "humanities" requirements, but mine are all out of the way so it's 3 more years of pure math/cs for me.

[KrazyHorse]

I didn't have a single non math or physics requirement during my undergraduate degree. As a result, I was far more prepared for graduate school than the American students were (who generally had only done ~60% of the mid to upper level classwork I had).

Forcing smart people to sit through boring ****ing classes with a bunch of barely-literate troglodytes is a crying ****ing shame.

[Provost Harrison]

Yeah, I have a pretty technical mind. Trying to get me to appreciate Shakespeare was more likely to send me to sleep than succeed...

[MRT144]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Forcing smart people to sit through boring ****ing classes with a bunch of barely-literate troglodytes is a crying ****ing shame.

and then you enter the work world

[Asher]

Originally posted by MRT144
and then you enter the work world

Where you avoid such people with clever career choice.

[MRT144]

Originally posted by Asher

Where you avoid such people with clever career choice.

oh come now asher, I'm sure that you've encountered a mouth breathing coffee boy that ruined your day.

[GePap]

Originally posted by Elok


Which is why I said "the equivalent of." As in, a school focusing entirely on the stuff you want to learn for work, whatever that may be. Or a program at a university that lets you concentrate on such things and ignore all the knowledge that doesn't somehow involve or relate to electrons bouncing through, over, or around bits of engraved silicon. That info might as well have been taught to a chimp, for all the good it did you. You'd be much happier, and so would many of us, if you'd never had to encounter it.

The chimp might be more likeable. Wait, "might"? No, the chimp would be more likeable.

Spiff: I'm not sure how effective said programs are for people who didn't have a preexisting interest in them. In my last Art History class, for example, you could easily tell the people who were genuinely in love with the evolution of aesthetics and ideals from the ones who were just memorizing the names of painters and paintings in order to match them up on the quiz, and then instantly forget them.

I went to one of the last few universities that still has a very wide ranging core curriculum that forces everyone to learn a little of everything. I would agree that for many people such an education is a waste. Every so often though someone who never even thought about the arts (or sciences) as a viable field for them find out by being exposed to something new that they may have a love and/or aptitute for something they would have otherwise ignored.

Cort Haus: The part of taxes that go towards "charity" are pretty close to wasted. $%#! FEMA didn't do squat for NOLA, and the aid projects in Afghanistan reportedly spend most of their time sitting around indoors trying to think of a plan of action that doesn't violate the draconian regulations they're under. Charity and culture both work much better when they're done voluntarily, for their own sake.

FEMA's work isn't charity. Part of the government's job is to ensure the safety of its citizens. Hvaing people living in squalid conditions after they lose their homes is unacceptable. FEMA's problem was not that it was charity, but that the organization was badly run.

[Kuciwalker]

The chimp might be more likeable. Wait, "might"? No, the chimp would be more likeable.

Are you arguing that a liberal arts education makes you likeable? Seriously?

[DaShi]

Originally posted by GePap
I went to one of the last few universities that still has a very wide ranging core curriculum that forces everyone to learn a little of everything. I would agree that for many people such an education is a waste. Every so often though someone who never even thought about the arts (or sciences) as a viable field for them find out by being exposed to something new that they may have a love and/or aptitute for something they would have otherwise ignored.

Don't you worry that such an education may make the students think they are experts in topics they only dabbled in. Just saying.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by DaShi
Don't you worry that such an education may make the students think they are experts in topics they only dabbled in. Just saying.

[Odin]

The crap in the OP is evidence for how stupid Postmodernism is, not the Liberal Arts.

[GePap]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker

The chimp might be more likeable. Wait, "might"? No, the chimp would be more likeable.

Are you arguing that a liberal arts education makes you likeable? Seriously?

NO. I am arguing that a chimp taught, well, anything, is more likeable than Asher.

[Kuciwalker]

I think your sweeping condemnation of millions of students based on a single individual discredits your credibility enough to safely say your argument is crap.