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Which academic fields tend to have the most interesting people?

xisnotx

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I think I'm just going to pursue academia. I'm lucky in that it is a relatively accessible field to me.

So, I'm wondering, in your estimation, which fields tend to have the most interesting types of people?

Also, beyond the intrinsic value each academic field has, what is supposed to be the value of various academic fields? Eg

Engineering-make things function better.
Math-??
Philosophy-??
PolySci-??
History-??
Psychology-??
Sociology-??
 

Usehername

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Can I very respectfully suggest that this is an ignorant question?

Are you independently wealthy and don't need to consider job prospects? Because that should be your first filter (you need to be good enough at the area to land a job). You either need to be legitimately privileged ($) or you should have someone grab your shoulders and shake you for not nailing down a plan is for survival.

Whatever you do, don't take on loans to do grad school. Either get fully funded, pay from your independent wealth, or don't go.
 

Orangey

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Um, isn't interest in a specific field the only reason to go to grad school? I think you need to reassess some things...

P.S. - No one is interesting in grad school because it is structurally designed to quell individuality.
 

kyli_ryan

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Medievalists :) The coolest people I've ever met... and the weirdest :wubbie:
 

xisnotx

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Whatever you do, don't take on loans to do grad school. Either get fully funded, pay from your independent wealth, or don't go.

And do what instead?

You either need to be legitimately privileged ($) or you should have someone grab your shoulders and shake you for not nailing down a plan is for survival.

Plans for survival seem to never pan out...seeing as none of us seem to survive anyway.

Um, isn't interest in a specific field the only reason to go to grad school?

I'm interested in it all...and my research interests aren't really field specific. (Or particularly centered around a specific theme...)
 

FDG

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Can I very respectfully suggest that this is an ignorant question?

Are you independently wealthy and don't need to consider job prospects? Because that should be your first filter (you need to be good enough at the area to land a job). You either need to be legitimately privileged ($) or you should have someone grab your shoulders and shake you for not nailing down a plan is for survival.

Whatever you do, don't take on loans to do grad school. Either get fully funded, pay from your independent wealth, or don't go.

Eh c'mon he just asked where are the interesting pplz, y u so serious.

I'd personally say archeology, then architecture.
 

CzeCze

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Personally zi thin the most interesting fun people would be the Victorianists (cuz they kinky as hell) and Victorianists tend to go into hazy territory like "performance studies" and from comparative literature to critical theory. Performance studies also has fun people. Ditto for cultural studies. You can read all the bad literature and watch all the worst movies and pore over porn you want and call it an intellectual pursuit.

OR go for what you are interested in yourself. That way being stuck in a room with 8 people who only want to talk about that 1 subject all day will seem FASCINATING to you.
 

Elfboy

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Can I very respectfully suggest that this is an ignorant question?
Are you independently wealthy and don't need to consider job prospects? Because that should be your first filter (you need to be good enough at the area to land a job). You either need to be legitimately privileged ($) or you should have someone grab your shoulders and shake you for not nailing down a plan is for survival.
Whatever you do, don't take on loans to do grad school. Either get fully funded, pay from your independent wealth, or don't go.

this
 

swordpath

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You'll find interesting people in any field... and what [MENTION=315]Usehername[/MENTION] said.
 

Usehername

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Eh c'mon he just asked where are the interesting pplz, y u so serious.

Because there are hundreds (thousands?) of grad students with more than 100 000 K of student loans who make 20-something thousand a year teaching as an adjunct at the top of their earnings. You can't declare bankruptcy from student loans here like you can from a mortgage. You can screw over your entire life in the American student loan system.
 

Mole

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Can I very respectfully suggest that this is an ignorant question?

Are you independently wealthy and don't need to consider job prospects? Because that should be your first filter (you need to be good enough at the area to land a job). You either need to be legitimately privileged ($) or you should have someone grab your shoulders and shake you for not nailing down a plan is for survival.

Whatever you do, don't take on loans to do grad school. Either get fully funded, pay from your independent wealth, or don't go.

Ever since I discovered you plotted your academic career from an early age, I have been flabagasted, discombombulated and, I confess, disillusioned. You are the opposite side of the Moon. I person so different from myself I can't begin to understand you. And I can't begin to change you. I can't even begin to improve you. And yet to yourself you are completely normal. And even your friends find you normal. And yet here you are, popping up day after day.
 

Mole

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I think I'm just going to pursue academia. I'm lucky in that it is a relatively accessible field to me.

So, I'm wondering, in your estimation, which fields tend to have the most interesting types of people?

Also, beyond the intrinsic value each academic field has, what is supposed to be the value of various academic fields? Eg

Engineering-make things function better.
Math-??
Philosophy-??
PolySci-??
History-??
Psychology-??
Sociology-??

There is no doubt the Architecture Faculty has the most interesting people.
 

FDG

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Because there are hundreds (thousands?) of grad students with more than 100 000 K of student loans who make 20-something thousand a year teaching as an adjunct at the top of their earnings. You can't declare bankruptcy from student loans here like you can from a mortgage. You can screw over your entire life in the American student loan system.

Who cares, it's just a topic on an internet forum. Even if you're personally involved, it doesn't mean you need to pour your fears on the thread starter. From my POV, an academic career based on potential earnings would be a stupid move, given that potential earnings are relatively low.
 

Stigmata

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Philosophy, political science, anything art related. Anything abstract and conducive to creative thinking and freedom of expression.
 

xisnotx

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You can screw over your entire American life in the American student loan system.

I know people who have like 100k in loans who "disappeared" and now live quite nicely in obscure places around the world. It kind of sucks for America, sure, but at the end of the day you have your own priorities and can't afford to be ideological.

The world is a sucky place..you do what you must...and then you die.
 

xisnotx

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I hate our math faculty...they are too perfect. I want to dig up dirt on one of the professors and throw it in his face just as he goes through yet another quadratic equation seamlessly. I imagine I'd shout "do you teach your mistress math!" as I threw the incriminating photos in his direction. Nothing would give me more pleasure...
 

Usehername

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Who cares, it's just a topic on an internet forum. Even if you're personally involved, it doesn't mean you need to pour your fears on the thread starter. From my POV, an academic career based on potential earnings would be a stupid move, given that potential earnings are relatively low.

My reply was American-centric, but it's not in the slightest bit personal. This "POV" of mine is about as common as postmodernist worldviews in American academia. Respectfully, your POV doesn't see the American system.

I'm not talking about "relatively low" earnings, I'm talking about signing loan papers that will put you so far in debt that it's mathematically impossible to climb out of it with your degree, and there's no bankruptcy option.
 
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