Delta Disqualifiers

PhilosopherPilot said:
It's a different kind of critical thinking. I know plenty of engineering students who struggled hard in courses that made them think a little.

I'm not saying engineering isn't a great degree. It's awesome if you want to be an engineer. But in terms of being a well-rounded critical thinker, hard sciences leave a lot lacking. The universities have cut so much of the core education classes that hard science majors don't get a well-rounded education anymore.

I was a biochemistry major for 3 years before I switched to philosophy of science, so I know the curriculum for a hard science major. I realized 1. I hated working in labs, and 2. I didn't want to be a doctor or geneticist, so I turned my minor in philosophy into a major...and proceeded to make up a crap-ton of core education classes I had been able to skip as a science major. Those classes are what really taught me things relevant to life out in the world, and I realized after that what I had missed out on.

That's why I have that opinion. It isn't because I have a liberal arts degree, as ATN says... It's because I was able to see first hand what is missing in a technical curriculum.
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Nah, sorry, I don't agree. A true engineer is able to think logically and critically. That's the progressiveness of engineering, how to make some thing cheaper/better/faster as well as make things that has never been done before. I took a few philosophy classes too, what I got out of them is there was nothing in them useful to the real world. Interesting discussions, sure, but I didn't gain anything that I didn't already have.
 
pullup said:
Nah, sorry, I don't agree. A true engineer is able to think logically and critically. That's the progressiveness of engineering, how to make some thing cheaper/better/faster as well as make things that has never been done before. I took a few philosophy classes too, what I got out of them is there was nothing in them useful to the real world. Interesting discussions, sure, but I didn't gain anything that I didn't already have.
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Agree to disagree, though I submit that you didn't get into the deeper philosophy classes if you didn't find things relevant to life. Also, I'm not talking specifically about philosophy. By far my most enlightening classes were various history and law classes.

At any rate, it is true that engineering teaches a very specific kind of critical thinking that is fundamentally different than what you learn through studying something like philosophy. Some people have a really hard time with grey, and those people don't do well in philosophy. That's all I mean. The engineers do great problem solving on how to build a bridge, or design a mechanical part.
 
Derg said:
I know smart Aeronautical Science grads and engineers that couldn't open a bag of Barbecue-flavored Lays potato chips without 20 minutes, several tools and bruised egos.
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And I know some smart philosophy majors who couldn't start a turbine engine without a joint and a lot of time to contemplate the meaning of life. :)
 
I spent my first 2 years as a Physics major, and realized wtf was I going to spend 5 years in college when I knew I wanted to fly... physics was going to cost me potentially at least an extra year toward getting a seniority number.

I switched to philosophy... loved it, particularly the logic classes and that element of it. I minored in geology, so I do have something sciency going on as far as completion. The logic classes and writing that I learned I think were invaluable in working with procedures and standards now. Plus it got me out right in 4 years, and the rest is history. :)

I can do the math, and I will say that has been quite invaluable from time to time, but really not much more than trig is needed for flying, though a understanding of calculus I think helps in freeing up brain cells in being able to quicker process things.
 
Well, this is certainly a new variation of the schlong-measuring contests I usually see as part of the normal routine on pilot forums.

I love that on JC we can keep it more interesting and think of yet more ways to subdivide and spat between ourselves over ridiculous stuff that is really quite meaningless in the grand scheme.
 
mshunter said:
Nah. True intelligence is knowing when to just walk away from a pointless topic, like who's degree requires more critical thinking
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Looking for the multiple "like" button. Some people can fly airplanes and some people should concentrate on being bowling pros. Don't matter what type of degree you may or may not have.

What is obvious is that some of you people need to get off the internet, out of the house, and go do some actual flying.
 
Just walked by a couple of AA pilots, and almost asked them "WOW! Arh yew guyz real astronots! Like for realz space men?"
 
Lol, engineering grads did not get the critical thinking practice liberal arts students did?

Look, my degree is in aviation - but having taken upper divisions in Russian, Anthropology, and Mathematics before I decided on my airplane degree...I can tell you that the undergrad math classes in the upper division were much much more challenging in terms of critical thinking than any of the others I took.

Don't try to make this into a schlong measuring extravaganza. To become an engineer takes more critical thinking than completing your degree in Russian Lit and Language. Philosophy requires critical thinking, but compared to a math degree or an engineering degree? C'mon...
 
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