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crowie
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« on: October 03, 2011, 05:38:12 PM » |
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concordancia
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« Reply #1 on: October 03, 2011, 05:40:31 PM » |
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"And, slowly, I realized that the questions I was asking were philosophical questions"
This one was sharp enough to get a PhD? How long does it take anyone working with AI to realize that the questions are philosophical.
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I like money. I like to buy stuff and experiences with money.
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voxprincipalis
Foxaliciously Cinnamon-Scented (and Most Poetic)
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 17,443
Has potentially infinite removable wallets
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« Reply #2 on: October 03, 2011, 05:55:46 PM » |
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If you are worried about your career, I must tell you that getting a humanities Ph.D. is not only not a danger to your employability, it is quite the opposite. I believe there no surer path to leaping dramatically forward in your career than to earn a Ph.D. in the humanities.
Congratulations, sir, you have just set the hard work of this fora back ten years. We who are about to die be deluged with thousands upon thousands of "Should I get a humanities PhD?" posts salute you. Mostly with one finger. VP |
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If you need me, I'll be hiding under a rock until mid-August. Try not to need me, unless you come bearing Chinese food.
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dr_evil
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« Reply #3 on: October 03, 2011, 08:15:10 PM » |
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Even if you are moved by my unguarded rhapsodizing here, no doubt you are also thinking, "How am I going to pay for this?!" You imagine, for a moment, the prospect of spending half a decade in the library, and you can't help but calculate the cost (and "opportunity cost") of this adventure.
But do you really value your mortgage more than the life of the mind? Yes, why would anyone worry about such foolish details as paying for the roof over one's head? This is not to say that I don't respect the humanities, but to point out that paying for any graduate program isn't a small thing. There is a lot more to consider than the author presented. |
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Drinking a lot always helps.
Wheeeeee! You go, oh evilicious one.
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voxprincipalis
Foxaliciously Cinnamon-Scented (and Most Poetic)
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 17,443
Has potentially infinite removable wallets
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« Reply #4 on: October 03, 2011, 08:42:48 PM » |
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I have been forced to decide that the piece is satire. Right? Right?
VP
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If you need me, I'll be hiding under a rock until mid-August. Try not to need me, unless you come bearing Chinese food.
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chaosbydesign
"I like to lyse bacteria. Did you know I'm utterly insane?"
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 12,371
I'm doing Science and I'm still alive.
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« Reply #5 on: October 03, 2011, 08:53:52 PM » |
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I think it's for real.
Next, there'll be an article explaining how important it is to graduate with over $200,000 in debt, and that the best time to apply for a TT job is three years before you finish your dissertation.
Then they'll tell us to throw away our staplers and buy a lifetime supply of paperclips.
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Seriously, I tried to lick my own face. Ah. Typical ivory tower pedanticalness.
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samspade
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« Reply #6 on: October 03, 2011, 08:54:43 PM » |
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This guy needs to stop smoking so much pot.
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watermarkup
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« Reply #7 on: October 03, 2011, 10:19:13 PM » |
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Call me a contrarian, but I think getting a Ph.D. in the humanities is a fine idea for someone who has made a fortune in the IT industry.
Now if he could write a piece for some top-tier IT journals on "quit hiring engineers and hire some humanities Ph.D.s instead," that would be great.
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systeme_d_
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« Reply #8 on: October 03, 2011, 10:34:11 PM » |
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Call me a contrarian, but I think getting a Ph.D. in the humanities is a fine idea for someone who has made a fortune in the IT industry.
Now if he could write a piece for some top-tier IT journals on "quit hiring engineers and hire some humanities Ph.D.s instead," that would be great.
Yes and double yes. |
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Systeme_D is right. <rah rah RESEARCH!> |
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battleunit
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« Reply #9 on: October 04, 2011, 04:47:29 AM » |
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Damon is a nice guy and a brilliant thinker. I suspect that if a PhD in history (or whatever) could walk into his office with a clear set of goals and ideas for products based on their field of study, they would walk out employed at Google. Plus he usually advocates truly innovative executives to invest in liberal arts.
Damon's thinking currently holds sway at Apple, Google, even parts of Microsoft are trying to break out of their shell and adopt it (to early to tell if it will work). This is the idea that the MBA and Business degree has set back industry in the past several years. Innovative companies the theory goes, sell products. You need engineers, marketers, artists, and idea people in the same room making something that people want to buy. Business, as the overriding reason for how a company works, is bound to fail. The invasion of boardrooms like HP, Yahoo, Dell, and Microsoft with business people rather than product people, or so the theory goes in the consumer market space, has resulted in dynasty operations where commodity products are pushed to consumers under the assumption that consumers care only about price, and that winning is merely an accounting function of efficiency.
Damon is actually saying, if you read more articles than this one, that product people need to see a value in liberal arts PhD. If a humanities PhD holder were willing to become a product person (by, for example, going back to college and getting an engineering degree, or studying filmmaking at Ken Burn's knee, or whatever) then the same result is achieved.
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voxprincipalis
Foxaliciously Cinnamon-Scented (and Most Poetic)
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 17,443
Has potentially infinite removable wallets
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« Reply #10 on: October 04, 2011, 05:17:57 AM » |
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Damon is actually saying, if you read more articles than this one, that product people need to see a value in liberal arts PhD.
This is quite true (except that there is no such thing as a "liberal arts PhD") and I agree with it wholeheartedly. However, advising people to leave their jobs and pursue multi-year PhD work in over-saturated humanities fields, within degree programs that train people only for careers in academia (see all of the "what else am I qualified for?" posts), based on the notion that people outside academia will suddenly slap their foreheads and say, "I should've had a V-8!" "I should've hired a PhD in humanities!" is a) unrealistic, b) irresponsible, and c) dangerous. VP |
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If you need me, I'll be hiding under a rock until mid-August. Try not to need me, unless you come bearing Chinese food.
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gsawpenny
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« Reply #11 on: October 04, 2011, 11:22:16 AM » |
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"Damon Horowitz is currently in-house philosopher at Google."
In-house philosopher! Thats a whole lot better than Associate Professor and I'll bet there is no tenure track Bravo Sierra...where do I apply?
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battleunit
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« Reply #12 on: October 04, 2011, 11:50:24 AM » |
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"Damon Horowitz is currently in-house philosopher at Google."
In-house philosopher! Thats a whole lot better than Associate Professor and I'll bet there is no tenure track Bravo Sierra...where do I apply?
Same place he did, someone read his writing and called him. |
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2clueless
How did I become a
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 1,003
In the classroom, with the red pen
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« Reply #13 on: October 04, 2011, 12:05:31 PM » |
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"Damon Horowitz is currently in-house philosopher at Google."
In-house philosopher! Thats a whole lot better than Associate Professor and I'll bet there is no tenure track Bravo Sierra...where do I apply?
I've never seen a benefits package for an associate professor that included on-site massage (except by the female secretary massaging her own breasts, of course), free food, and sanctioned NAPTIME! |
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Sometimes I can't sleep
I can't keep all these feelings at bay
I am rage, I am sorrow and grief
All alone in my way.
- Ferron, "Stand Up," Phantom Center
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jackofallchem
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« Reply #14 on: October 05, 2011, 01:17:57 PM » |
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If you are worried about your career, I must tell you that getting a humanities Ph.D. is not only not a danger to your employability, it is quite the opposite. I believe there no surer path to leaping dramatically forward in your career than to earn a Ph.D. in the humanities.
Congratulations, sir, you have just set the hard work of this fora back ten years. We who are about to die be deluged with thousands upon thousands of "Should I get a humanities PhD?" posts salute you. Mostly with one finger. VP You missed the point, he has given the fora a new standard. Questions: "Should I get a humanities PhD?" Answer: First, get a master's degree in computer science or engineering from MIT. Then, found several start-up companies and spend years trying to teach a machine how to think. If you have tired of that and have a sound retirement portfolio, it is time to get a PhD in the humanities. |
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Anything you do not understand is magic.
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