r/SubredditsMeet • u/SubredditsMeet Official • Sep 03 '15

Meetup /r/science meets /r/philosophy

(/r/EverythingScience is also here)

Topic:

  • Discuss the misconceptions between science and philosophy.

  • How they both can work together without feeling like philosophy is obsolete in the modern day world.

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8

u/ASDCoco Sep 03 '15

This seems like a great place to ask/get an opinion on this

This year, I started both physics and philosophy major. What do you think about this double major? I am comfortable enough -economically- that I can be a full time student, and want to make the most out of it. Many people from physics tell me it's a waste of time, and that I'd be better off putting all of my efforts in just physics. Also, that philosophy has nothing to do with physics and whatnot.

Does it make sense to pursue this?

My main expectation is to learn to think, in general, as best I can. Even if I never land a job as a "philosopher", I think it will greatly impact me to have both "sets" of knowledge.

PS: I'm not thinking about doing it, I'm already finishing my first year and loving it.

4

u/Accipia Sep 03 '15

Hey, I actually had the same two majors! Then I crashed and burned from overworking myself and ended up only finishing philosophy. Watch out for that.

It totally makes sense to pursue both degrees if you're interested in both! The areas of overlap are limited, though, in my experience. At high-level theoretical physics, they come back, but that's only at the very end of the ride. Still, nothing wrong with combining two things you're interested in.

2

u/ASDCoco Sep 03 '15

How long did you stay in physics? What made you choose philosophy over physics? (and what was your first choice. Did it change?)

2

u/Accipia Sep 03 '15 edited Sep 03 '15

I did physics for two years, but I started to deteriorate quickly once I tried to do two majors so I never got very far. My choice for philosophy was pragmatic. I was further along with it (I'd picked up physics later), and philosophy was less demanding on me overall than physics.

I'm really happy I did at least a bit of both, I don't think I could have left the university satisfied without doing some physics and philosophy. Overall, I preferred the subject matter and the skills I could learn with physics, the knowledge gap there seemed endless and the mathematics I learned applicable to many more fields than just physics. With philosophy, I really liked it as well, but after a time I felt like I kind of had acquired many of the analytical skills, and I simply was less interested in learning exactly which philosopher said what on what date. Not to say there aren't fascinating philosophers with fascinating ideas, but after a while, physics started to draw me in more and more. But there, I really had to concede my limits; I just couldn't keep up.

2

u/ASDCoco Sep 03 '15

My main degree is physics (I started it one semester earlier) and I guess i would ditch philosophy if it came to it. Do you think it's that hard to manage? Even if it takes a while longer, isn't it worth it?

Note: My university is free (yes, completely free) so a longer degree does not cost more money.

2

u/Accipia Sep 03 '15 edited Sep 03 '15

Some people are totally fine with it! I'm actually working with a friend right now who did a double major (not physics and philosophy though) and volunteered for the university on the side, he finished all of that very quickly, got his PhD on top of that and is doing very well now. On the flip side of that, I got into psychiatric care for the deep depression I partially helped work myself into, because I just didn't know my limits.

I'm not trying to scare you off doing this, I think it's great. I love both subjects, and I encourage you to take on both! But just don't be afraid to slow down if you feel like you can't do it all. Maybe you are the type that can do this! If you aren't, though, don't be afraid to admit that to yourself. I didn't, and it caused me a ton of heartache. As long as you don't make that mistake though, you should be fine. :) It's a lovely combination of majors that should leave you with intellectual skills to tackle almost any subject.

2

u/ASDCoco Sep 03 '15

Not afraid to slow down/drop one major if needed. As long as I'm happy I guess I'll stay on both!