In Paul Fussell’s book on class (I think), he says that people are really worried about differentiating themselves from the class immediately below them, but largely ignorant of the customs and sometimes even existence of the classes above them. When I found SSC, and then The Motte, and stuff like TLP, I was astonished to find a tier of the internet I had had no idea even existed. The quality of discourse here is . . . usually . . . of the kind that “high brow” (by internet standards) websites THINK they are having, but when you see the best stuff here you realize that those clowns are just flattering themselves. My question is, who is rightly saying the same thing about us? Of what intellectual internet class am I ignorant now? Or does onlineness impose some kind of ceiling on things, and the real galaxy brains are at the equivalent of Davos somewhere?
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
This is also reflected in GRE scores. IIRC, philosophy grad students have GREs on a par with mathematicians (maybe a bit lower?), above CS (and econ), and below physics, and the only humanities subject with higher scores is classics.
Data:
https://dailynous.com/value-of-philosophy/charts-and-graphs/
Philosophers on average do best at the verbal/writing tests by a large margin, even ahead of other humanities subjects, but then also do well in mathematical tests, when compared with other humanities subjects like English and History.
More options
Context Copy link
I'd say it's more a question of not emphasising money as a goal rather than not caring or needing to care about it. Philosophers don't have some special problem with getting well-paid jobs. It's just that there are better options if you are looking to earn a lot of money.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link