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[jaydub]

Maybe its just science fields - but grad school wouldn't cost me any money out of pocket.  You get in, and you get to go.  You certainly don't make any money doing it, and the hours are long and the work is overwhelming, and it takes forever...and employment afterwards as a post doc isn't a whole lot more lucrative for another 4-6 years.  I was about to pull the trigger on it when I learned my wife was pregnant with our second kid.  That tipped the balance for me, and I'll remain a Bachelor of Science for a long while to come.

[wombat]

We've talked about this before somewhere but I don't know where. No one I knew in linguistics paid for grad school either, which is a good thing since there are basically no jobs. But different fields are different and I don't know about what Inev is doing.

[Arachno-capitalist]

We've talked about this before somewhere but I don't know where. No one I knew in linguistics paid for grad school either, which is a good thing since there are basically no jobs. But different fields are different and I don't know about what Inev is doing.

In my crowd we call that a masturbatory profession. It exists for the purpose of existing with no real productive end. That isn't a judgement call.

[wombat]

I both totally agree and totally disagree with that. I think that's how you define civilization, that there are many valuable things that exist merely for the sake of existing. I mean, isn't that true of all art?  On the other hand, it was one of things that made me uncomfortable about the profession.

[jay-ell]

I have often said that the only purpose of an historian is to create new historians. No wonder nobody I know in my field can find a job.

[KeithHernandez]

Hey yo...I manage a sandwich shop with my history degree!  Don't say it can't be done.

[KeithHernandez]

Oh...I didn't know that.  Awesome!! 

[jay-ell]

I guess I misspoke -- I meant to say nobody I know can get in a job in my field. I know lots of historians who are employed as, like, receptionists and market analysts and waitresses and retail clerks. But there just aren't enough people who want to be historians to make jobs for all the people who already are.

It's a vicious cycle -- the fewer jobs there are for historians, the fewer people will want to become historians, and that means history programs get under-enrolled and the jobs dwindle even more.

[theinevitable]

a-cap, what do you produce at your job?

Last night I had a dream that my best friend, who is engaged, got the shit beaten out of her by her fiance. I didn't like that dream. Both my subconscious and my friends think I hate this guy. He is fine.

(this is a girl who I posted about daily in like 2007, but that was a long time ago)

Urban planning master's programs don't give out much money, because if you go to a good program you can get a nice job. I would like if they gave me money, though.

[Arachno-capitalist]

a-cap, what do you produce at your job?

Money.


I facilitate the transfer of money around the globe by acting as a buyer and seller of currency. My customers are likely other traders, but at some level it is about converting different currencies between banks. Literally trillions of dollars pass through the fingers of people that do what I do every single day. And as I've said before, I don't just sit on my money. I put it to use remodeling houses, where people live, and other side projects I get caught up in.
What do you produce at your job?

[wombat]

Money.

This seems like a really depressing answer. Don't you ever wish you were, like, adding beauty and meaning to the world, or something?

[Arachno-capitalist]

Money is pretty meaningful. I'm OK with making money.

[theinevitable]

Trading and taking a cut is not "producing." But my point is not that what you do is bad-- it is that whether someone's job is "producing" is a bad way of evaluating that job. I produce lattes at my job and I  don't think my job is better than being a historian. I think being a historian is probably better for the world than producing lattes or comics or paintings. But I still want to live in a world with those things.

[KeithHernandez]

Wait...what?  Being a historian is maybe better than being a latte (or sandwich) maker (MAYBE!), but there is no way it is more valuable than like an artistic endeavor.  If you are doing something that future historians may talk about it is much more important than being a historian.  Though from my degree, historians also talk about old historians a lot, so maybe that's a bad rule.

[Choop]

historians also talk about hitler a lot so let's back off on that particular metaphor

i produce easy communication between constituents and their elected representatives. i sit at a desk and type all day. i have a history degree. nobody's going to remember my name or my contribution, but idgaf. i make it easy for people to say "hey congress you're a pile of shit" and for the congressperson to say "maybe you'll like my updated even further polarizing stance on the issue." it's pointless, but it's kind of easy and it pays the bills. it lets me life the life i want, which is the point of having a job or a career. if you want to leave a mark on the world, take up a hobby and see how it goes.