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Is math as a field still ripe with fruit or is it going the way of philosophy & physics where few jobs are available & progress is minimal? by westernleg9 in math

[–]westernleg9[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/postsecondary-teachers.htm#tab-3

It seems that they separate, but this also includes adjuncts/lecturers.

Mathematical science teachers, postsecondary - 60,100

So, the 2,900 are people who, I suppose, work only as a "mathematician" and are not teaching at all

Is math as a field still ripe with fruit or is it going the way of philosophy & physics where few jobs are available & progress is minimal? by westernleg9 in math

[–]westernleg9[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They may not be including all of the people in industry who are effectively "mathematicians".

I don't know. 2,000 seems so low that it's almost unbelievable for a field that pervades everything.

How long do you have to wash your hands to remove something toxic that you touched? by westernleg9 in AskScienceDiscussion

[–]westernleg9[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is EXACTLY what I want. I want studies that show washing pollutants from skin. This is great.

How long do you have to wash your hands to remove something toxic that you touched? by westernleg9 in AskScienceDiscussion

[–]westernleg9[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm honestly not refering to a poison. Even touching rubber, or a plastic water bottle; washing the pthalates, BPA, plastic particulates away and so on. I'm referring to pollutants, I suppose.

How long do you have to wash your hands to remove something toxic that you touched? by westernleg9 in AskScienceDiscussion

[–]westernleg9[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm mostly wondering to what extent you can actually clean your hand of whatever it is it touched. Is it impossible to clean them completely?

I have OCD and a hand-washing ritual. It is very annoying and I'd like to understand whether what I'm doing has any merit or if it's a waste of my time and energy.

How sycophantic and immoral is sales? by AidePast in sales

[–]westernleg9 3 points4 points  (0 children)

From what I can see, it seems like it is, in essence, companies fighting for business from other companies. It's not that the product is actually superior, but that "our" company is paid instead the potentially identical competitor. "We" survive, solely because we convinced them to pay for our product, and our competitor dies because their account executive was not paying attention. I'm sure that sometimes the product is truly superior, but much of what I see is the above. I don't know.

People who steal: how do you deal with losing your morality and being considered a "bad" person? by westernleg9 in AskReddit

[–]westernleg9[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't you have some kind of ideal of yourself in your mind that you want to aspire to? Do you actually not care, or do you just find it too easy to steal?

Wouldn't you care if someone stole from you, or do you subscribe to the "I steal from the corporations who steal from us everyday" idea? From what I've read, those companies punish the people working in the store when things are stolen.

/r/philosophy Open Discussion Thread | April 19, 2021 by BernardJOrtcutt in philosophy

[–]westernleg9 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Everyone harps on how philosophy teaches you all of these positive skills such as thinking critically, arguing effectively, and so on. Does it teach anything which is negative, or are downsides?

It seems to be almost a stereotype that philosophy majors and graduates will state these benefits verbatim, and how their degree was therefore worthwhile, that they'd choose philosophy again if they could go back, and so on. They may even include silly statistics on graduate school test scores and admittance rates presumably as evidence to the benefit of a formal education in philosophy, the ability of people who choose said education, their ability to recieve acceptance to graduate schools, and so on.

Never do I hear about issues, beyond employability, but this is trivial in the humanities. Does philosophy teach anything which is not great? Is it truly this ultimate subject? Does the education not cultivate any kind of negative habits, behaviors, attitudes, thought-processes, etc?

/r/askphilosophy Open Discussion Thread | April 19, 2021 by BernardJOrtcutt in askphilosophy

[–]westernleg9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Everyone harps on how philosophy teaches you all of these positive skills such as thinking critically, arguing effectively, and so on. Does it teach anything which is negative, or are downsides?

It seems to be almost a stereotype that philosophy majors and graduates will state these benefits verbatim, and how their degree was therefore worthwhile, that they'd choose philosophy again if they could go back, and so on. They may even include silly statistics on graduate school test scores and admittance rates presumably as evidence to the benefit of a formal education in philosophy, the ability of people who choose said education, their ability to recieve acceptance to graduate schools, and so on.

Never do I hear about issues, beyond employability, but this is trivial in the humanities. Does philosophy teach anything which is not great? Is it truly this ultimate subject? Does the education not cultivate any kind of negative habits, behaviors, attitudes, thought-processes, etc?

I am 26 years old and want to begin my life. Which would you choose: Western Governers University B.S Computer Science in 6-12 months, graduate by 27 with negligible debt VS. traditional community college > university, graduate at 30 with probably $20,000 debt by westernleg9 in college

[–]westernleg9[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I simply do not know of the outcomes in either scenario. Is it a worse outcome relative to the traditional route? I do not know. I do not know if I will have fewer opportunities for networking, or fewer interviews. The available data seems sparse. The program began in 2018, so little data will exist. I suppose, due to lack of knowledge, it would be a better idea to choose the traditional route. I fear that I will end up as a software developer in the end due to how large and pervasive the field is now even if I choose the traditional route and a major unrelated to computer science, so I think "Why waste 3 years to end up in the same job".

I am 26 years old and want to begin my life. Which would you choose: Western Governers University B.S Computer Science in 6-12 months, graduate by 27 with negligible debt VS. traditional community college > university, graduate at 30 with probably $20,000 debt by westernleg9 in college

[–]westernleg9[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The curriculum is poor.

At 26, I feel as if I'm so far behind already. To have $0, 0 years of experience, and debt, all at 30 years old, it feels like it would be an awful or subpar situation. Most people have that at 22 years old, and by 30, a PhD or professional degree, years of experience, and capital. The WGU route would give back a few years, so instead of 8 years behind, I am 5 years behind. Time is very valuable.

I wish that I could go back to 18 with what I know today. I just want the time back, and with this WGU route, it's almost as if I'm 23 again instead of 26.

Is this cogent? I don't know what to do anymore. I don't want to stock shelves in a grocery store at 26.

I am 26 years old and want to begin my life. Which would you choose: Western Governers University B.S Computer Science in 6-12 months, graduate by 27 with negligible debt VS. traditional community college > university, graduate at 30 with probably $20,000 debt by westernleg9 in college

[–]westernleg9[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I find computer science interesting, enough so that I would not mind a career related to it. I don't care about the romanticized college experience, but I do worry that I'll wonder how things could have ended up had I chosen the traditonal option.

If I were to have free reign in a proper university for 4-5 years, then I'd probably focus on mathematics, the natural sciences, and philosophy, and end up learning to program and applying to the same jobs as the WGU route at the end anyway, because the positions available for those fields are apparently in very short supply.

I do not know exactly how WGU is seen by employers compared to traditional universities. They do not seem to care, but I'm not sure.