/lit/ - Literature

>then what the fuck do you suppose to major in?
Then what else are you supposed to do if in the end you are going to die anyways? What does it matter. You see, you are asking another question, or want the other one asked and offer this one for the inability articulate the one that is gnawing, and there is only one answer. Give yourself entirely to God.

>>14338796
kill yourself. your religion is dead for a reason and will continue to stay dead. stop taking rights from women you rape enabler

>>14338775
Why do you care that other people think it's stupid?

>Picrelated majored in English and Philosophy and made it fine.

But, DFW's fanbase is other white guys majoring in English and philosophy. It's pandering FUBU shit.

>>14338802
As much as I believe the "follow your dreams" scoop I know were I can easily end up in a horrible position. I'm probably going to continue with this anyway but I just want to hear from people who have already gone through this as /lit/ has many who have done both the bugman and bugman path.

Idk about philosophy
But english degrees can still be applicable to other career paths, teacher, professor, editor, government, lawyer, paralegal, etc

>>14338775
>Picrelated majored in English and Philosophy and made it fine.
Made the noose fine you mean LMAO.

>>14338775
I am trying to take a middle way by double majoring in Philosophy and stem. Is this not an option for you?

>>14338812
Also, OP, jokes aside, English can be a lucrative degree only if you use it as a springboard. If you go into marketing school or, say, for Masters in Library Sciences afterwards, you'll be fine. Otherwise the only benefit of an English degree is having the bachelors; which, unfortunately, is a basic prerequisite for numerous mindless jobs today. Pursue it if you believe you can flip it. Ultimately, I'd argue you pursue an education which allows you to forge your own path without relying on another to determine your worth and salary. If English is your passion, keep it so.

>>14338808
While I'm a bit of a "bugman" (I work 7-3) I
still have hobbies that I have developed for myself. But I need to embraced my own culture to stay sane. Its feels good to spend some time not thinking about trying to cultivate myself.

>>14338796
kill yourself. i hate you and your oppressive religion.

English is filled with bugmen, Anon.

>>14338775
History. Much larger job market and is not so oppressively technical and autistic.

>>14338814
>>14338814
I feel like I'd neglect my stem course work through disinterest. Precious time I could be spending on my writing dedicated to stem, and a stem job is even worse
>>14338840
not a fan of history that much

>>14338801
>>14338832
Man-made definition of rights are abstractions and inversions of the very ends people think they guarantee (eg freedom, happiness), which come and can only come from God, and rather than affirm man as a rational creature, on the contrary deny him by extension and women these, and in so doing reject man's autonomy, rationality, free will, and and lead him to set set his affections on idols replacing god's, which glorify man's nothingness and give a license, to sin, which as the Savior has declared, make's them the slave of sin. Since the the emergence of these so-called rights, we have observed, not an increase in the status of women, but a decrease, where they are means to the end of lusts, where they flee continually, where countless marriages are broken, where thousands of families or born out of wedlock, where birth control, where abortion, where there is more entertainment, and in the midst of all these 'rights' 'liberation' 'prosperity', they are more miserable and alone than ever. There is no peace/ for the wicked, saith the Lord. Christ and his Church have survived the Roman Empire, countless persecutions, heresies, scandals, antipopes, and will rise again. The word of God is eternal, and His Kingdom shall have no end.

>>14338849
>a stem job is even worse
But have you had a shitty, minimum wage, job? It drains all of your physical and mental energy so that you can't do anything with your little free time but to try to recover for the next day's work. In this sense a stem job is much better. I think Kafka, though his field was not stem, provides a good model for us to follow if we are not born wealthy and want to pursue an intellectual or artistic life. I can tell from experience that the alternative is much worse.

>>14338775
He majored in mathematical philosophy, nowadays you could minor in CS with that major and easily get a job in tech.

classics my nigga

>>14338775
The average salaries and job prospects aren't actually that bad, it's just a lack of clarity as to where it must go SPECIFICALLY that throws people off. Which is funny because in the majority of cases most of what factors into getting a good job has nothing to do with your degree anyways. The real meme is talking shit on the Liberal Arts, and it's a fucking peasant's meme at that. Major in whatever you want to learn

Enter seminary instead and become a priest.

>>14338822

i did a ba & ma in lit in canada and almost everyone i studied with is now a lawyer, working on a phd, or working for government

if you can't turn a BA & MA into a lucrative or challenging career you're a fucking retard

but just a ba is probably not enough anymore

Work at McDonald's for two months and then decide. Working at McDonald's full time is the worst your life can get. If you have the ability to work there without losing your mind than I say major in whatever you want.
I'm serious about this for real work there for a bit.

>>14338775
Graduate schools for creative writing that you won’t have to go into debt for have acceptance rates lower than Harvard Medical School. Literally 1-3% acceptance rate.

>>14339854
oh fuck, i'm fucked then. Maybe Psychology or something jeez

>>14338775
I majored in business from a regionally well respected public university, graduated with zero debt, and started working in an interesting field that paid above average.

Now I’m working regular hours and have a lot of free time to write and work on making a career as an author. This lifestyle has been fantastic because the stakes are much lower in pursuing what I want to do. I couldn’t imagine the day to day stress of having to rely on writing to pay my rent, especially right out of college with no stable employment.

The short answer is that it’s all about the long game. Jumping into your passion and enduring the instability that you’ll experience is no way to live a fulfilling life.

>>14339888
>Jumping into your passion and enduring the instability that you’ll experience is no way to live a fulfilling life.
Hamsun and Rimbaud turned out fine and these experiences made their best works

Worst case scenario you end up a professor of English or Philosophy. Best case you write a nice book and become a respected author. Personally I think you could probably write a decent book and learn the required philosophy/English skills without going to university, the only downside is you won't have the pathway into academia available as a backup.

>>14339912
>Worst case scenario you end up a professor of English or Philosophy
Hahahaha anon that itself is a best case scenario. Do you have any idea how hard it is now to get a professorship position?

>>14339946
Eh, my mum did it and she's not that smart really. I guess it depends what you want to do. Obviously it's different if you are talking about big name schools, but if we are talking run of the mill average schools it's really not that hard.

>>14339954
I am talking about the tenure track positions of the current year in the average universities. When did your mother got her position?

>>14338796
Can't religious people stop talking about god for a second? You think god, talk god and shit god. Do you have sex with god too?

>alright at math/sciences
>feel pressure to fall for the stem meme
>major in engineering and hate the actual engineering part with group work and lab reports
>just wanna be alone and read
major in what you like bros

>>14338811
>teacher
You need a degree in education or alternate licensure, which is almost a Master's worth of work.
>professor
Have fun being contingent faculty forever as administrators keep redistributing university budgets away from the tenure track.
>editor
This is possible.
>government
It's business management and lawyers all the way down.
>lawyer
It doesn't matter what your bachelor's degree is in if you're going to law school.
>paralegal
Just get the associates degree at your local junior college.

>>14338836
Bugwomen, anon. Bugmen flock to CS and Engineering.

>>14338901
>It drains all of your physical and mental energy so that you can't do anything with your little free time
This is all jobs. Any benefit of a STEM degree is how much income you get in exchange.

>>14339017
The lack of clarity is one thing; the fact English departments regularly suggest professions that you can't get into with a BA in English is another (e.g. tech writing).

>>14340096
Why do bugwomen major in literature? I'm from a non western country and it seems cross cultural.

>>14339854
The MFA program in my town takes seven people a year. I heard over 400 people applied last year.

>>14340100
I'm sure sitting at your desk writing code all day is much more comfortable than those jobs.

>>14340104
I was just riffing on the fact English departments are populated with women. I have no particular opinion on whether or not these women are of the bug variety. STEM fields are absolutely lousy with bugmen, however.

>>14340110
Then you've never sat at a desk and coded all day.

>>14340100
You have a whole different set of tasks. Depending on your personality they may not be anywhere near as draining and, dare I say it, enjoyable. After working at McDonald's I realized that I would never complain about a job wherein I would not have to deal with customers. If I ever have to crush garbage and rocks for a living I will remember the indecency of serving the average McDonald's customer; rocks shall be crushed with a smile on my face.

>>14340123
I have, though not for an employer yet. Minimum wage service work is a special kind of hell. Being on the run all day, having to do some sort of activity even if everything is clean and no customer is present, not being allowed to sit for eight hours, people treating you like their rightful slave because of a meager $12/h. I'm sure sitting at a desk and coding isn't that draining.

>>14340127
Fair. Customer service of all kinds can be miserable; however, I found delivering pizzas (in a mountain town in the winter, no less) more enjoyable than numerous desk jobs I've held. But I've recently realized that I find a lot of work repellent because it doesn't seem important.

>>14340140
I've done enough of the grad school "sit for 30 hours and write, right now" game that I'd much rather stand for eight hours than sit. Admittedly, dealing with people is rarely fun, so while I'd rather stand than sit, I'd also rather not have to deal with certain segments of the public.

>>14338796
fpbp

>>14340093
You sound like a faggot

>>14340152
Trust me, anon. If you were to work where I worked, you wouldn't want to stand either. You would probably opt for an inclined position.

>>14338832
>>14338801
t.

>>14340103
wdym you can't get into technical writing with a BA in english? can't you?

>>14338775
physics.

>>14340214
I imagine you can, but tech writing job postings in my area have increasingly been asking for engineering degrees. I haven't seen one that didn't specify this requirement in about a year.

>>14339962
She finished her doctorate back in like 2008-9 I think, I was like 10, she would've been under 30. She must have become a lecturer not long after that. Idk many details about her actual position but I know she does lots of research stuff and papers in addition to study, as well as being in charge of many doctoral students.

>>14339986
Yes.

>>14338775
>Picrelated majored in English and Philosophy and made it fine
Yes because he became one of the most celebrated authors of the later 20th century
People say that English lit degrees are a meme because most people who get them do not become authors, they become failures

>>14340118
English majors are absolutely bugwomen
t. lived with some

>>14338840
Kys you evil liar, history is the worst subject to major in w/r/t jobs

>>14338796
true that

>>14338775
You can become a technical writer; it's pretty comfy if you find the right position. Can also be hell if you end up in a sweatshop-like environment so be careful.
t. Philosophy major turned technical writer

DFW was the son of well off upper middle class Harvard educated boomers. You are not. Do not fall for the humanities.

>>14342119
Some of the humanities are worth pursuing, if you have a passion big enough and aren't a retard; like for example ANE philology.

>>14342229
You can say that for just about anything. If OP has to ask, he's already fucked.

>>14339908
I think it’s pretty foolish to compare the experiences of people from the 19th century to the experiences of people of the 21st century

>>14339888
checked

>>14338775
If your university is not in the top 10 worldwide for your art/humanities choice then you should major in STEM or not go at all. If you are at Oxbridge or Ivy then an English major makes sense, but if you are at University of Florida then it is a waste of time because the connections you make there will not move you up in the art/humanities world.

>>14338775
I have an English degree and became a tradie.
It is very /comfy/.
Very high quality decision.

>>14339986
Yes.