Re:The Great College Hoax
by parenthesis on Thursday February 05, 2009 @06:32PM
(#468986)
As I see it, the big difference between 'softer' (history, literature, philosophy, ...) and 'harder' (math, physics, ...) subjects is that, as an undergrad, you can 'get by' in softer subjects on very little work, especially if you are reasonably intelligent, whereas in harder subjects if you're not working to at least a certain level, you will do really badly.
However, to be a great historian is no less a task that to be a great physicist. Doing anything well is just as difficult as doing anything else well.
A historian obviously isn't going to be making lots of money later in life, but that doesn't make them worthless. A good education system should allow historians to come out of poor backgrounds too, not force everyone int apparently productive degrees. Hard sciences aren't everything in life.