14 Comments
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Jonathan Brownson's avatar

Very interesting...how about history majors?

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Douglas Brouwer's avatar

Hey, I gave a shout out to history majors!

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Esther Ann's avatar

Thank you for the cheers!! Just sent your article to one of the most creative problem solvers I know—my son who majored in philosophy! (Also worked at McDonald’s during high school!)

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Douglas Brouwer's avatar

Thanks for the "like" and new subscription! I had some early jobs that taught me a lot too. I'm guessing that all or most of the famous people I mentioned did too. Good for your son.

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Dawn Vollink's avatar

Interesting. I really enjoyed philosophy. But I only took one class in it and was an English major... getting an education certification.

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BrightSizeLife's avatar

Philosophy builds critical thinking skills.

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BrightSizeLife's avatar

Funny, I answered before I read the enjoyable article…

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Douglas Brouwer's avatar

I wondered! But I think you've got it right. An anecdote I could have used involves my nephew. When he graduated from Wake Forest, a recruiter from Accenture said to him, "We can teach you technical stuff. We want to know if you can think."

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Douglas Brouwer's avatar

Let's hear for humanities degrees! Maybe our time will come again.

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Douglas Brouwer's avatar

Thanks for the comment, Jan. I'm a big fan of Heather Cox Richardson too! I start most days with her take on the news.

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Jan Underhill's avatar

Doug, I loved this passionate defense of the liberal arts. I got hooked on history in much the same way you came to philosophy and pursue it to this day with a great sense of urgency in the face of world events. It’s disheartening how most of the voting population is relatively uninformed on this score. It’s of course been satisfying to see a political historian like Heather Cox Richardson come to prominence during these precarious times for our democracy!

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Hope Herting's avatar

Yes, and then there are English Majors..... (me), art majors (both ex & son), music (another son). But I will tell you, even though we've all had to do a variety of jobs, including physical labor, we are all pretty darn creative and interesting people, if I do say so myself. That said, for many reasons, I am glad to be married to an engineer the second time around! But he wouldn't trade me or his step sons for the world. It's a great balance!

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Billy's avatar

Why didn’t you mention this 53 years ago?

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Douglas Brouwer's avatar

People weren't disparaging philosophy majors 53 years ago.

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