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OfflineDAREtoTHINK
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Registered: 04/09/10
Posts: 84
Last seen: 6 years, 6 months
advice on a major
    #13522542 - 11/22/10 02:37 AM (13 years, 4 months ago)

i have to declare a major ASAP, like ideally within the next few days. i've given it sooo much thought over these past few years but i have not been able to decide. lately i've been dwelling on psychology or biology. i need some suggestions, what do you guys think could take my career closer to stuff i find on shroomery? i've been thinking mycology, but need other ideas. i'd like to take paths similar to those of lily, huxley, mckenna, etc. all contributions are appreciated.


--------------------
"you live day by day?"
"no, i live second by second"
-serj tankian

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InvisibleLakefingers
Registered: 08/26/05
Posts: 6,440
Re: advice on a major *DELETED* [Re: DAREtoTHINK]
    #13522635 - 11/22/10 03:23 AM (13 years, 4 months ago)

Post deleted by Lakefingers

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OfflineDAREtoTHINK
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Registered: 04/09/10
Posts: 84
Last seen: 6 years, 6 months
Re: advice on a major [Re: Lakefingers]
    #13522665 - 11/22/10 03:42 AM (13 years, 4 months ago)

ok... some background info... i am 19, graduated high school in '09 in the top 10% of my class. i recently finished my GE's at community college and plan to transfer to university the next or following year. i live in CA, and plan to go to one of the higher-tier UC's... LA, SD, SB. and can you elaborate a bit on the "under 30" part? hah.


--------------------
"you live day by day?"
"no, i live second by second"
-serj tankian

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InvisibleLakefingers
Registered: 08/26/05
Posts: 6,440
Re: advice on a major *DELETED* [Re: DAREtoTHINK]
    #13522710 - 11/22/10 04:21 AM (13 years, 4 months ago)

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OfflineSneezingPenis
ACHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!111!
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Re: advice on a major [Re: Lakefingers]
    #13522715 - 11/22/10 04:25 AM (13 years, 4 months ago)

college and majors are bullshit either way. outside of becoming a doctor, lawyer or businessman, there is no need. all the other degrees are so worthless that the job you get probably wouldnt take the effort to even verify if you were lying about the said degree or not.

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InvisibleLakefingers
Registered: 08/26/05
Posts: 6,440
Re: advice on a major *DELETED* [Re: SneezingPenis]
    #13522721 - 11/22/10 04:29 AM (13 years, 4 months ago)

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OfflineSneezingPenis
ACHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!111!
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Re: advice on a major [Re: Lakefingers]
    #13522784 - 11/22/10 05:16 AM (13 years, 4 months ago)

says the guy that pirates music.

im not saying that higher learning is useless, quite the opposite, but the modern academia (university) is bullshit. I was a horrible student, my senior year of highschool i didnt even take my backpack home. anything i did school wise were between the bells. I scored high on my ACT and still got honor roll bullshit.
same in college, which odd that you bring it up, i was a music theory major which I flunked out of only due to non attendance. aced every exam. still came up with a .83 GPA.
Then i went to school for recording engineering, like every other person that flunked out of a university their first year. this also proved useless. I actually talked to our classes valedictorian the other day and he is working at best buy... while I was somewhere right in the middle, now work with major country artists, and bought my own house at the age of 24.

I tell that story because it proves to me that the structure of todays higher education is a shell. if you dont do good in highschool you arent going to get into a good college and if you dont do good in college, you arent going to get a good job and end up working at mcdonalds.
right now, go down to your local mcdonalds and see how many people there have a college degree. i bet half of them do.

what most people dont understand is that college is a service industry, but a service unlike any other one. its like a buffet acting like a 5 star restaurant. one could argue that, like a buffet, you can get whatever you want out of it, it all depends on you... but did i really need a college to read those books? or take those tests? did i really need that waiter to give me silverware and fill my water glass? was it worth the 100k? was it worth the 20% tip? ah but they are accredited. ah but it counts as a "nice date".

just like any other service industry, they are there to make money, but it has become perverted with colleges. universities are no better than infomercial gadgets now. they sell you on your own potential, your own dreams but say "its as easy as 1-2-3 with this".
"you could spend hours tilling your garden with one of those old backbreaking shovels and hoes, but the awesome auger cuts your time in half!"
"you could spend years reading the very same books we sell, or finding experts to talk to, but we have them all right here! and we even highlight the really important stuff that you can just mnemonically memorize for 24 hours and claim you know it for the rest of your life!"

and Im sure you would try to retort with "well why do so many foreigners come to our colleges?". well, for starters, most of those are for law, medicine or business. second, it is a perfect way to acclimate and learn the culture, language, customs and concepts of the land of money/opportunity.

sadly, in this country, we have set up these arbitrary stepping stones that have bypassed most peoples introspection. I remember all my friends in high school doing all this stupid shit to ensure they got into a good college, without ever knowing why they wanted to go there in the first place other than "its prestigious". take the OP for example, he is sure he wants to go to college, because " thats what people do", but has no clue of what else to do. cant see the forest through the trees.
and that is what universities have turned into. purgatory for the listless. the depot of indecisiveness. its for the kind of person who sees a line and gets in it not knowing what the line is for.

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InvisibleLakefingers
Registered: 08/26/05
Posts: 6,440
Re: advice on a major [Re: SneezingPenis]
    #13522803 - 11/22/10 05:26 AM (13 years, 4 months ago)

says the guy that :whatever:

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OfflineSneezingPenis
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Re: advice on a major [Re: Lakefingers]
    #13522814 - 11/22/10 05:34 AM (13 years, 4 months ago)

solid response. how well is your degree treating you?

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OfflineThaBoas
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Registered: 11/21/10
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Re: advice on a major [Re: SneezingPenis]
    #13522830 - 11/22/10 05:40 AM (13 years, 4 months ago)

Aldus Huxley was a fine scholar.  Unfortunately, as an assistant professor, I see many young people pushed into college or university without a plan.  It's a waste of their money to go to college without a plan.

I would suggest that you take a pen and notebook and on one side of the page, write down all of your goals for your future. On the other side - after you've written down your goals - take each goal a apart and put it into a category such as psychology, biology, mycology..etc.

Look at the overall picture and then think about what you really want to do.  There's no use in making 100k a year if you aren't happy with what you are going to be doing. 

I got my BS in General Psychology, went through Masters of Education and am now working on my doctorate of philosophy and organized psychology.

I found early on in my life that I am a natural teacher.  What you need to do is find out what your strengths are and put them together with the list I've mentioned above and match yourself to something you'd be happy doing.

That is the best advice that I have for you because I don't know you.  Nobody knows you except yourself.  Gnothi Seauton.

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OfflineThaBoas
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Registered: 11/21/10
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Last seen: 13 years, 3 months
Re: advice on a major [Re: SneezingPenis]
    #13522835 - 11/22/10 05:45 AM (13 years, 4 months ago)

Quote:

SneezingPenis said:
college and majors are bullshit either way. outside of becoming a doctor, lawyer or businessman, there is no need. all the other degrees are so worthless that the job you get probably wouldnt take the effort to even verify if you were lying about the said degree or not.




I would not forsake someone in the information technology field as they are the ones in control of ensuring that your social security number and other personal information is kept private.

There are benefits like that to society - when degrees come into play.

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OfflineHippieChick8
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Re: advice on a major [Re: Lakefingers]
    #13525354 - 11/22/10 04:40 PM (13 years, 4 months ago)

Quote:

Both psychology and biology are pretty useless in this respect and are going to require an MA or PhD to get any job security, good pay and time to do interesting research.




It depends where you plan to live.  If you live in a major metropolitan area you can do well with a BS in biology.  I have a BS in biology and did very well working at a pharmaceutical company and then as a research scientist for the federal government.  When I moved out to The Middle of Nowhere in Rural Texas I had to pursue a different career path but I do not regret it.

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InvisiblePoid
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Re: advice on a major [Re: SneezingPenis]
    #13525544 - 11/22/10 05:14 PM (13 years, 4 months ago)

Quote:

SneezingPenis said:
college and majors are bullshit either way. outside of becoming a doctor, lawyer or businessman, there is no need.


What about the sciences, or education?


--------------------
Well I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you to be just like them. --  Bob Dylan
fireworks_god said:
It's one thing to simply enjoy a style of life that one enjoys, but it's another thing altogether to refer to another person's choice as "wrong" or to rationalize their behavior as being pathological or resulting from some sort of inadequacy or failing so as to create a sense of superiority or separation as yet another projection of a personal fear or control issue.

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Invisiblejohnm214
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Re: advice on a major [Re: DAREtoTHINK]
    #13525635 - 11/22/10 05:30 PM (13 years, 4 months ago)

I'd first figure out what you want and what will make you most satisfied.  Obviously this is a big question you're probably ill equiped to answer.

Given this, I'd only recomend you consider the pitfalls I've seen:

a) conflating "what you love" with what degree your going to get.  You don't need a degree to do art, help people, or any of the other things people are often encouraged to pursue.  Get a degree because  you like the benefits of it, not because it has some affiliation with things yo ulike

b) consider the ignorance you may have regarding what you'll want out of life.  If your young, you likely have little experience and probably a poor understanding of yourself and what you want

c) realize that a lot of people advising you are so inextrably tied to their experiences that neutral advice is hard to get.  Often the well-meaning advice you may get from some is coming from someone witha  very tilted version of the world and various professions.  As an example, every doctor I know bitches about medicine for various legal and administrative reasons.  This doesn't mean its a bad career, only that they are unhappy with those things.  Their advice to seek employment elsewhere may only reflect the dissonance between their expectations and reality, rather than a helpful appraisal of their profession, as an example.

d) related to a), be sure and consider how realistic your goal is and how happy you'll be with the usual-course of things for someone with your degree.  You may want to be an artist or activist, or whatever who makes 40k a year and lives a frugal lifestyle in favor of doing what they love, but consider that the average person attempting this may end up making far less and finding far more unfulfilling and limited job opportunities.  I think people focus too little on money.  It is nice.  It is not evil.  Just because its not everything doesn't mean its realistic for you to neglect it and figure you'll be happy anyways, especially as your goals change throughout your life.


Just some thoughts that came to mind.  Above all, know thyself and know what's out there.  Unfortunately, these are both quite difficult. 

You may wish to speak with an advisor/career counselor in your school, but in my experience they are worse than worthless, so definately make sure the guy knows what he's talking about before you invest in his advice.

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InvisibleIcelander
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Re: advice on a major [Re: DAREtoTHINK]
    #13525973 - 11/22/10 06:29 PM (13 years, 4 months ago)

all contributions are appreciated.

Quit school now, you're being a tool.  Head for the jungles and fry your little brain and then write about it.

Otherwise stfu.:heart:


--------------------
"Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.

" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.

With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC

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OfflineDAREtoTHINK
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Registered: 04/09/10
Posts: 84
Last seen: 6 years, 6 months
Re: advice on a major [Re: Icelander]
    #13526655 - 11/22/10 08:37 PM (13 years, 4 months ago)

Quote:

Icelander said:
all contributions are appreciated.

Quit school now, you're being a tool.  Head for the jungles and fry your little brain and then write about it.

Otherwise stfu.:heart:




hah... trust me. i've been aware of the true intentions/purpose of school (to prepare the student for the corporate slave life) since early highschool and i've always desired for an out-of-the-system ascetic sort of lifestyle however i have obligations that i must tend to.


--------------------
"you live day by day?"
"no, i live second by second"
-serj tankian

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InvisibleIcelander
The Minstrel in the Gallery
Male


Registered: 03/15/05
Posts: 95,368
Loc: underbelly
Re: advice on a major [Re: DAREtoTHINK]
    #13526735 - 11/22/10 08:48 PM (13 years, 4 months ago)

Those "obligations" are the bait in the trap. You're doomed to fall in line. :hellfire:


--------------------
"Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.

" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.

With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC

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