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[Rolan7]

I remember hearing about a degree (a major, at that) in Popular Culture.

That is all.

Well I certainly don't understand it.

[Neonivek]

I am so tired about people denigrating fields of knowledge they don't personally see any merit in, or see any profit in, as if they know everything objectively about what is meritous or that profit is the only point.

I am... So tired.

_{so tired.}

Not QUITE what I was referring to.

Though usually with "Useless degrees" they are not meant to be helpful on their own but are useful when coupled with another degree.

For example you can get a PHD in "Science", which is technically a useless degree... but coupled with physics, chemistry, biology, or something along those lines it gives you a more rounded scientific background.

[MrRoboto75]

Ok here is an odd question and I am quite serious.

Why are some PHDs not worth the paper they are written on?

My theory on this is that it is a combination of Intellectual inbreeding and "political courses".

My grandfather often said that the more education someone got, the less common sense they retained.

[Rolan7]

Common sense is a lot like a little knowledge:  Very dangerous.
Why should I switch doors, Monty Hall?  And why should we care about that person who's not in our group?

[TD1]

Women are inferior to men in terms of physical strength, height, and beards.

[Frumple]

Re: PHD papers being duds from time to time, it's mostly a case of monofocus, really, with a side of procedural necessity. Surround yourself with specialized language and specific scenarios or environments narrow or otherwise, then get forced to produce something related to it and sometimes what comes out is... not the most contributory piece of the work the given field has ever seen.

So far as common sense and academic papers go, though, it's usually less a lack than it is that the common sense of the subject being engaged in isn't the common sense of the person reading it. Kinda' like the common sense of the electrician ain't always the common sense of the heavy machine operator. Not really a case of more education leading to less common sense, just a third-party's common sense not being quite as applicable to such folk as it might have been previously. Layfolk common sense ain't exactly the most sensical thing in the world plenty often anyway, heh. Know well, indulge way too often when stopping and doing something else would involve much less effort and damaged tendons.

[AzyWng]

I just saw an advertisement on "Trendiest Dog Breeds", which made me wonder... If some dog breeds are fashionable and some are not, and this affects how many dogs of a specific breed are chosen (big assumption on my part, but still), then I have to wonder:

Is dog breeding and the selection of dogs based on breed... racism?

[Harry Baldman]

PhDs certainly aren't useless or without merit for the most part, it's more the tragic reality that having a PhD or an MD may lead you to believe that you are an expert on many more things than the PhD technically says you are. Worse, it can lead people to cite you as an expert on many more things than you legitimately are. Such as doctors of physics or medicine saying they don't believe in evolution, most glaringly.

I just saw an advertisement on "Trendiest Dog Breeds", which made me wonder... If some dog breeds are fashionable and some are not, and this affects how many dogs of a specific breed are chosen (big assumption on my part, but still), then I have to wonder:

Is dog breeding and the selection of dogs based on breed... racism?

What this made me wonder about is why in god's name would you phrase that advertisement as anything but "Hot Dogs! Get Your Hot Dogs Here!"

[Helgoland]

Women are inferior to men in terms of physical strength, height, and beards.

They are superior in terms of beards. IMO moustaches - at least the thin, well-groomed kind - look much better on women than on men.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

That's the most something statement I've ever heard. I'm not sure what the something is, but whatever that quality is, this sentence is king.

[Frumple]

I just saw an advertisement on "Trendiest Dog Breeds", which made me wonder... If some dog breeds are fashionable and some are not, and this affects how many dogs of a specific breed are chosen (big assumption on my part, but still), then I have to wonder:

Is dog breeding and the selection of dogs based on breed... racism?

More eugenics, you're trying for accuracy. Not terribly much different, really.

Assumption is kinda' off, though. Artificial scarcity and inbreeding issues can cut down on number chosen even if the breed is popular. Even if a breed's famous, if it costs a few hundred (or notably more) to acquire and several thousand and a great deal of effort to stop it from coming apart under the (sometimes very literal) weight of genetic issues, the population isn't exactly going to explode. Sometimes folks prefer to look at them, instead of having to deal with keeping one alive.

[Rolan7]

Women are inferior to men in terms of physical strength, height, and beards.

They are superior in terms of beards. IMO moustaches - at least the thin, well-groomed kind - look much better on women than on men.

It's kinda funny how by the end of American Horror Story's carnival season, even the bearded lady didn't appear unsettling.  Not sure if it was just acclimation, subtle changes in shooting/lighting, or maybe both.  Sorta a nice feeling, though.  I liked that season (some major WTF near the ending, but that's obligatory).

[Sergarr]

This entire paper.

[AzyWng]

PhDs certainly aren't useless or without merit for the most part, it's more the tragic reality that having a PhD or an MD may lead you to believe that you are an expert on many more things than the PhD technically says you are.

Ah yes, as Henry Ford put it in his book "My Life And Work", "Once you get into the expert state of mind a great number of things become impossible to do" or something like that.

Then again, Henry Ford also wrote an anti-Semitic book titled "The International Jew", so I'm not exactly hanging onto his every word here.

EDIT: Just typed "hear" as "here" in another post I was making.

I should really read an actual physical book some time. Soon. Very soon.

[ChairmanPoo]

Man goes into a murder spree in Ohio  http://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/man-kills-victim-live-on-facebook-and-goes-on-the-run-after-posting-easter-day-slaughter-video/news-story/63ebe5845760d68942be0807d4a040f5