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I've worked with some professional coders who were philosophy majors - there's some overlap between formal computer science and philosophy for sure. I was sort

I've worked with some professional coders who were philosophy majors - there's some overlap between formal computer science and philosophy for sure. I was sort of surprised when one guy started talking about using diagonalization to prove Godels theorem of incompleteness - I thought, "ok, I guess they do teach y'all a thing or two". On the whole, though, it's _way_ easier to bluff your way through a philosophy degree than a CS degree.

port11 2mo ago
It was easier, I imagine. Now you can vibe code your way out, no?
- ramesh31 2mo ago
  >"It was easier, I imagine. Now you can vibe code your way out, no?" Coding was always the easy part of a CS major. Claude won't help you on a proctored Differential Equations exam.
- commandlinefan 2mo ago
  I hear from my son that, yes.
gopher_space 2mo ago
The difficulty scale starts with o chem and then goes through all of the arts before it hits another STEM discipline.
- doodlesarefun 2mo ago
  Sorry, please elaborate.
  - gopher_space 2mo ago
    Imagine being asked to publish 'beautiful' code for an audience comfortable with doing so themselves. On top of all the theory and practice needed to produce a complete system you're expected to develop a point of view your peers want to engage with.
l33tbro 2mo ago
Interested to hear how you think one "bluffs" their way through a philosophy degree. Could you sketch that out?
- dwaltrip 2mo ago
  Philosophy treatises don’t trigger compiler errors. More seriously, the main issue with most philosophical investigations is a question of grounding. When you start stacking abstract concepts on top of each other, things can get dicey very quickly. Moreso if you are smart.
  - kaffekaka 2mo ago
    Yes precisely. In my eyes the lack of objective answers in much of philosophy makes it an easy target for humans getting lost in their own "rationality". People vastly overestimate their ability to reason and draw conclusions about abstract concepts that really lack strong definitions. Some philosophy study is very good for raising the questions one should always ponder in life, but building a career on philosophy very easily leads you astray. I have studied philosophy, literature and physics. In literature you know everything is made up, that is the point of literature, creating art, but in philosophy many people make up things and then pretend they are real. Objective ethics? Postulating the nature of reality? Please.
  - bluefirebrand 2mo ago
    > Philosophy treatises don’t trigger compiler errors Compiler errors make programming easier, not harder. They are firm, clear rules about how something needs to be in order to work Philosophy has no such constraints or automated checks, it's harder
    - dwaltrip 2mo ago
      We are in agreement!
  - l33tbro 2mo ago
    I'm not sure I agree with this. A senior academic is usually very familiar with the canon. You don't think you will be vaporised if there is no underlying logic and saliency to the arguments in the work you present?
EoinB 2mo ago
Something to ponder... I have a PhD in mathematics and have worked in tech for more than 30 years as a programmer. I went to a Renaissance era university in Scotland which is required by law to require of me a broad education rather than something very specialised. Because I entered the science faculty, as an undergraduate, I had to balance that with something from the humanities and I chose Philosophy, naïvely thinking that it would be easy. Philosophy is in no sense of the word "easy" and not something you can "bluff your way through". In fact, it is more difficult than mathematics and more difficult and arduous than computer science. I also teach at a university level and would advise young people reading this to pursue, these days, a philosophy education (or a mathematics education) over a software engineering/computer science education.
- calf 2mo ago
  I was born a philosopher, people were telling me to study philosophy when I was in high school. But instead my formal education choices took a more circuitous route that included the fine arts, physics, electrical engineering, computer engineering, and eventually theoretical computer science. However even I can see that philosophy as a field is flawed and generic advice to tell students to go philosophy is incredibly problematic. As someone with philosophical tendencies this is incredibly obvious to me but and I must suggest that those who keep endorsing philosophy as a professional discipline for "success reasons" are putting forth a deeply prejudiced argument due to certain blinders. For example as soon as you claimed "philosophy is harder than math", then I cannot take this line of argument seriously. The entire statement is a bad and unphilosophical statement. Anyone with an intuition for good philosophy, who is well read and has the wisdom of life experience, who is scientifically literate, should have known that before saying it. It actually offends me. It is intellectually insulting.
  - jibal 2mo ago
    If you actually studied philosophy you would realize that your comment is riddled with fallacies.
    - calf 2mo ago
tomlockwood 2mo ago
idk I have a BA Phil and have been a professional programmer for over a decade now. If you don't know how to search stackoverflow I'd agree. But I had to go to University to learn all the ins and outs of philosophy. Much easier to find the answers online for programming. Searching for "how to live a good life"? Many charlatans on this topic out there. As the academy gets hollowed out in favour of Profit, increasingly those charlatans have STEM degrees.

port11 2mo ago

It was easier, I imagine. Now you can vibe code your way out, no?

ramesh31 2mo ago
>"It was easier, I imagine. Now you can vibe code your way out, no?" Coding was always the easy part of a CS major. Claude won't help you on a proctored Differential Equations exam.
commandlinefan 2mo ago
I hear from my son that, yes.

gopher_space 2mo ago

The difficulty scale starts with o chem and then goes through all of the arts before it hits another STEM discipline.

doodlesarefun 2mo ago
Sorry, please elaborate.
- gopher_space 2mo ago
  Imagine being asked to publish 'beautiful' code for an audience comfortable with doing so themselves. On top of all the theory and practice needed to produce a complete system you're expected to develop a point of view your peers want to engage with.

l33tbro 2mo ago

Interested to hear how you think one "bluffs" their way through a philosophy degree. Could you sketch that out?

dwaltrip 2mo ago
Philosophy treatises don’t trigger compiler errors. More seriously, the main issue with most philosophical investigations is a question of grounding. When you start stacking abstract concepts on top of each other, things can get dicey very quickly. Moreso if you are smart.
- kaffekaka 2mo ago
  Yes precisely. In my eyes the lack of objective answers in much of philosophy makes it an easy target for humans getting lost in their own "rationality". People vastly overestimate their ability to reason and draw conclusions about abstract concepts that really lack strong definitions. Some philosophy study is very good for raising the questions one should always ponder in life, but building a career on philosophy very easily leads you astray. I have studied philosophy, literature and physics. In literature you know everything is made up, that is the point of literature, creating art, but in philosophy many people make up things and then pretend they are real. Objective ethics? Postulating the nature of reality? Please.
- bluefirebrand 2mo ago
  > Philosophy treatises don’t trigger compiler errors Compiler errors make programming easier, not harder. They are firm, clear rules about how something needs to be in order to work Philosophy has no such constraints or automated checks, it's harder
  - dwaltrip 2mo ago
    We are in agreement!
- l33tbro 2mo ago
  I'm not sure I agree with this. A senior academic is usually very familiar with the canon. You don't think you will be vaporised if there is no underlying logic and saliency to the arguments in the work you present?

EoinB 2mo ago

Something to ponder... I have a PhD in mathematics and have worked in tech for more than 30 years as a programmer. I went to a Renaissance era university in Scotland which is required by law to require of me a broad education rather than something very specialised. Because I entered the science faculty, as an undergraduate, I had to balance that with something from the humanities and I chose Philosophy, naïvely thinking that it would be easy. Philosophy is in no sense of the word "easy" and not something you can "bluff your way through". In fact, it is more difficult than mathematics and more difficult and arduous than computer science. I also teach at a university level and would advise young people reading this to pursue, these days, a philosophy education (or a mathematics education) over a software engineering/computer science education.

calf 2mo ago
I was born a philosopher, people were telling me to study philosophy when I was in high school. But instead my formal education choices took a more circuitous route that included the fine arts, physics, electrical engineering, computer engineering, and eventually theoretical computer science. However even I can see that philosophy as a field is flawed and generic advice to tell students to go philosophy is incredibly problematic. As someone with philosophical tendencies this is incredibly obvious to me but and I must suggest that those who keep endorsing philosophy as a professional discipline for "success reasons" are putting forth a deeply prejudiced argument due to certain blinders. For example as soon as you claimed "philosophy is harder than math", then I cannot take this line of argument seriously. The entire statement is a bad and unphilosophical statement. Anyone with an intuition for good philosophy, who is well read and has the wisdom of life experience, who is scientifically literate, should have known that before saying it. It actually offends me. It is intellectually insulting.
- jibal 2mo ago
  If you actually studied philosophy you would realize that your comment is riddled with fallacies.
  - calf 2mo ago

tomlockwood 2mo ago

idk I have a BA Phil and have been a professional programmer for over a decade now. If you don't know how to search stackoverflow I'd agree. But I had to go to University to learn all the ins and outs of philosophy. Much easier to find the answers online for programming. Searching for "how to live a good life"? Many charlatans on this topic out there. As the academy gets hollowed out in favour of Profit, increasingly those charlatans have STEM degrees.