Engineers have to tell other people what to do. They have to teach people why their designs are done as such. They also have to have a wide knowledge of what NOT to do, based on past mistakes. Every engineer should know about three mile island and kansas city hyatt.

Chemists design better materials.

Both would be a waste of your intellectual potential and would limit your options on the levels of personal development and social acheivement. I suggest you study applied mathematics.

Also, I just love how people in this thread try to prove that their degrees are better than the rest, yet all the parties involved are just afraid to admit or fail to see the truth: mathematics owns everything else.

math is old tech. It's been around forever, and we use programs now to do all our math quickly.

Applied mathematics is just heavily math based engineering. Actually, it's probably worthless, since real engineers always use plenty of freeboard, making the exact science of applied mathematics overkill. Accounting for the turbulence in a moving fluid in a pipe to an extreme accuracy is possible, sure, but when you can just use a bigger/stronger pipe, why wouldn't you?

Not meaning to sound in an insulting manner, but you have no idea how applied math is actually applied or what math in the real world really is.

I'm pursuing my dreams. I'm a film major.

Maths is just new and exciting ways to do the same old boring shit. A three year old can draw a triangle. A maths major can write a dissertation on a triangle. See the trend?

I am doing a BSc in Geography (BSc = Bachelor of Science). It's cool because I can study anything from population demographics to why nuclear power is good (or bad), what methods of mitigation are really effective at offsetting carbon emissions, as opposed to what is media hype (and government funded).. or glacial icecaps retreating means this blah blah blah...

A lot of peoples first impressions that I study geography is 'pfft, thats not a real degree now is it'. But I tend to call these people retards since they assume geography is knowing what the capital of Mongolia is.

There are a lot of engineers and maths students at my university, as well as law and medicine. But there are also an equal number of history, history of art, sociology, anthropology and humanities students too. The greatest thing about my university is that there is no animosity between the groups. What so ever. We all get along and do our own thing, its cool.

I respect people who do science. Like proper breaking boundaries in experimental/theoretical physics, nanobiotechnology, or crazy chemistry shit. But, maths, engineering and even geography - nothing really excites me.

I am contemplating changing my degree to 3D Design / Graphics / Computer Modelling etc.

Over-saturated

I know. It's probably a bad choice. But, it's what I like doing. And what I want to be doing.

I'd rather be in a saturated pool of fun, than an empty bathtub of boredom.

lolololol. ol.

The real truth that you fail to see... is that mathematics is not enough.... no, my friend, the degree that is best degree... is.... [copycat]






































BASKETWEAVING!!!!
[/copycat]

Mathematics is most abstract/powerful, but it's also less interesting. Working in the most abstract medium isn't necessarily the most rewarding, as you also see less of what you do transformed into concrete results.

This is a line of thinking that bothers me. True, I can (and will) use a calculator to do advanced computations. But I first must know what computations to do and why. The question of what always precedes that of how. So, the best degree would be one in philosophy. Just kidding, one in engineering or an MD would be the most useful. The theoretical stuff that only lends itself to research is useful because, again, the question of what always precedes that of how. But it is less immediately useful.

Back on that earlier thought, though. I hate it when math teachers introduce a concept by simply showing you how to do it on a calculator. I don't actually know what I am doing when I just hit buttons and then an answer just pops out. I don't actually know what I am doing or what my answer means. If someone gives me a problem with the specific parameters that the teacher told me when they were showing me, then I can do your problem. Otherwise, you're SOL.

That would be the engineer's (presumably civil/geotechnical) fault. Architects only plan out the entire building but engineers actually design the concrete/foundation/material.

In short, architects come up with the design. Engineers make sure all that shit works. And the construction workers do it.

OH YOU DID NOT JUST SAY THAT

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Dec 13 2010, 10:33 am by MillenniumArmy.

It's funny you say this and yet you say econ wouldn't be mentally challenging or rewarding. As far as I can tell most concepts I've seen you cover on the forums would be covered in a business stat class or two. ;P

And I happen to find business to be very stimulating.

And Ma that's the problem. He thought he was an engineer lulz.

What's with all the arts hate? I assume when people are saying "art" degrees they mean degrees in the liberal arts - history, philosophy, geography etc.

Practical degrees are valuable, like engineering-related ones, and so are arts degrees (at least as far as getting a job goes). I don't consider either more valuable - both branches are interdependent, or have been in the past.

Quote from CaptainWill

What's with all the arts hate? I assume when people are saying "art" degrees they mean degrees in the liberal arts - history, philosophy, geography etc.

Worse. Think things like painting and sculpting.

I for one have a baseless prejudice against the liberal arts. Wait, geography is considered a liberal art?

I have prejudice against fashion designers. They tend to end up adding frills that just makes the dress look horrid and very uncomfy.

;_;


I too have a baseless prejudice. Against psychologists, dolphin trainers, veterinarians, and english teachers.

I meant art as in painting and stuff like that.