Is it rude to call someone's major useless?

<p>Not if it’s true lmao</p>

<p>@DTBSE</p>

<p>i probably did.</p>

<p>and i doubt that the stigma of a useless major is much less than the stigma of being fat, so much so that a perpetrator of a useless major is totally clueless about their choice. they might actually be better aware of their situation than you are, though you are understandably shocked that a humanities major can be aware of anything. in fact, both fatness and useless majors are such a cultural thing that oftentimes people are unaware of both - you’re probably fat by non-american standards and don’t know it!</p>

<p>Some people can do something about being obese, while for a few others it might be a medical condition. Much has been written in the popular press about the health effects of obesity, so the work of warning the obese has already been done.</p>

<p>Not so much is written about poor educational choices that, when made, are usually made by the young and the naive. An obese person can lose weight later in life and enjoy the benefits. An underemployed, twenty-something humanities major might need years to dig out from under the debt of a student loan. Such a situation can have a long-term negative effect on a career. The triple major could avoid most or all of the insults by making at least one of those “majors” something such as Math or even English. I doubt she would switch over to EE.</p>

<p>As to my weight, I have for most of my life been underweight based on the BMI, and have only moved into low end of the ‘normal’ range in the last few years. I have never been anywhere near overweight. I mention this because I noticed that you used the phrase “fat by non-american standards” so you must have some sort of gripe about Americans. Please try to do some more American-bashing; nothing says “logic” more than an ad-hominem attack.</p>

<p>Now as to other aspects of your message: You are no e. e. cummings.</p>

<p>e e cummings would appreciate if you punctuated his name correctly.</p>

<p>i find it interesting that you call me out on my baseless judgment of your weight, yet you continue to condemn these nameless, faceless maybe-they’re-on-foodstamps humanities majors that have made OH SUCH HORRIBLE CHOICES because they were UNINFORMED BY THE SYSTEM. perhaps the triple humanities major isn’t taking out loans. perhaps she has a trust fund. perhaps she’s seen a lot of successful humanities majors in her life. perhaps she is loathe to slave away her youth to an EE degree, only to become a bad engineer easily replaced by an indian on an h1-b visa. you haven’t even met this girl, not to mention the faceless masses that you seek to rescue with your pontificating. i am willing to admit that you know your weight and health better than i do. might you perhaps consider that various individuals, too, don’t need offhand advice from somebody on the internet as regards their personal circumstances?</p>

<p>@vienneselights</p>

<p>E. E. Cummings has been gone for over fifty years; I doubt that he cares any more. FWIW, we can go with the Wiki spelling and punctuation for now.</p>

<p>I haven’t condemned anyone. Under the current system, the triple major can study what she wants. So long as the First Amendment remains in effect EpicBacon can say what he wants.</p>

<p>Again, I doubt that the triple major would ever consider EE. Despite the problems that the H-1B program causes, engineering still tends to have a lower unemployment rate and higher salaries than most other fields, and is certainly much better in those regards than the things that the triple major is studying. She can “slave away” at EE or she can “slave away” behind the counter of a coffee shop.</p>

<p>Your attempt to make an issue out of Americans’ weight (which has nothing to do with the topic of this discussion) does not in any way preclude me or anyone else from making comments, suggestions or asking questions about the suitability or wisdom of certain educational choices.</p>

<p>was it rude… yes…were you any help to her …no…its that simple… u didnt help her by calling her choice useless…u just insulted her…
if u wanted to help her…u could have been like…‘ah interesting combination…wht are the career prospects’ and from there on given valid reasons to why YOU think they are ‘useless’…
FACT - calling her majors useless…is NO help…its not even tough love…its just plain rude…</p>

<p>@vienneselights:</p>

<p>Did you have something you wanted to say about my last message being too long and that it shouldn’t be read?</p>

<p>Do you have any recommendations on how long a message should be?</p>

<p>How would you be able to prove that ‘nobody’ is interested in my comments, suggestions and questions?</p>

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</p>

<p>Not just rude, but also arrogant. Why do some people have the idea that their opinions are so special that they must gratuitously force them upon other people?</p>

<p>@HHH</p>

<p>He might have asked if she planned to pursue graduate studies in all three, or was she just going to go to law school or get an MBA.</p>

<p>I think it would depend on the potential consequences of a bad decision. If a friend, relative, neighbor or even a total stranger was about to invest heavily in a bad deal, you should probably try to dissuade him even if you had to be blunt about it.</p>

<p>I don’t see how this major- or any major, really- is “useless.” I’ve realized that a major doesn’t determine success- the person pursuing the major does. If this girl is able to balance three different areas of study while keeping her GPA intact (which I assume she does, if she is leading campus tours), then I would assume that she is ambitious and has some sort of direction in which she is heading. Theater doesn’t only prepare you for the almost impossible acting gig- it gives you speaking and personal skills that are kind of valuable in the workplace. And if you couple that with anthropology, I think those majors together ought to be some ticket to a job that involves a lot of interaction and group work with others. Maybe I’m just a naive high school senior, but it makes sense to me. And the college I’m attending this fall doesn’t have queer studies, but if it did I’d probably sign up for those classes in a heartbeat. I’m guessing that refers to studying homosexuality, right? (It’s a weird choice of name, but maybe that’s just me.) If I’m correct- and hopefully I am, or else I’m going off on a completely pointless tangent- then queer studies is something extremely valuable. Maybe not for job opportunities, but for life, and for accepting the fact that there are people out there who live differently than you do.
And maybe that’s what the OP needs to do.</p>

<p>Many famous actors have no college degree. Directors, producers, writers, etc., are more likely to have degrees, but not necessarily in “Theatre.”</p>

<p>Two of the three majors mentioned are probably related in some way, and might have many of the same course requirements. It is also possible that the triple major is taking more than the usually expected four years to graduate which will add to student loan costs if she is paying for her education that way.</p>

<p>While some people prove to be an exception to the rule, none of the three subjects listed is particularly known for to be good for careers at a BA level. </p>

<p>With the changes that are being made to the US health care system, the creative class might not have to worry about keeping a day job. That won’t be particularly fair to those who opted to work hard and study for degrees leading to day jobs.</p>

<p>of course it’s rude, more than likely someones major is their passion and they’re working/ worked hard for it.</p>

<p>The word “passion” has been overused lately. It has been used so much it has lost all meaning. One is left to guess which of the three majors is the triple-major’s “passion.” By definition one can have no more than one “passion.”</p>

<p>I disagree passion is flat out something you invested your time with and love doing. you can have more than one</p>

<p>Were someone to have more than one “passion” she would of necessity need to divide her available time among them. </p>

<p>Passion when referring to an emotion could be equated with “devotion” ; passion when referring to a subject could be equated with “obsession.” </p>

<p>In either case the implication is that one is centering one’s existence around a single-minded pursuit.</p>

<p>Rather than call it useless, use facts to tactfully make the point that the major may not be the best one to pursue.</p>

<p>I think it’s even more “useless” to choose a major you arent passionate about just because you think you can make money with it in the future. That’s setting oneself up for being miserable in a job they hate for 40 hours a week for the rest of their working life. But I would never say that to someone who told me their major - it is their prerogative to choose and I respect that.</p>

<p>I’m trying to either double major - one passion one practical - so I can get a job “in the meantime” until I find my place in a career that is meaningful and fulfilling, or choose the most practical specialization in a general field I am interested in.</p>

<p>I’m going back to school at 42 because I’ve had it with being unhappy spending so many hours of my life in jobs that are unfulfilling, unsatisfying, and unpleasant. It may be true that its hard to find a job in the field you love, but at least with your major in it you have a chance to make your dreams a reality. And money isn’t everything.</p>

<p>Yes, it was inconsiderate.</p>

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<p>It used to be that people had “interests.” However, in the competitive world of college applications, “interests” are not enough. That won’t get you into a famous college that will impress everyone at your high school. You have go beyond that and have “passions.” Of course, most high school students don’t have any passions (as the word used to be defined), and you see posts on CC where students ask what their “passion” should be. It is hard to know just what “passion” now means on CC, but it appears to be roughly “something that I want colleges to think I am really interested in.” One wonders how many of these “passions” survive beyond April of the senior year of high school.</p>

<p>One doesn’t need to be a college student or graduate to enlighten you; you were arrogant and out of place. She can study whatever she wants. Also, you don’t know her situation. Someone majoring in something “useless” may have reasons for doing so (they’re actually interested, they want to experience college, etc.).</p>

<p>What if I told you I am going to major in a language? I often tell people this, and they respond:</p>

<p>“Why?”</p>

<p>“That’s useless.”</p>

<p>“Maybe you should reconsider.”</p>

<p>Oh wait, did they know that I am going to medical school after that?</p>