On Thu, 12 May 2011 10:56:22 -0600 Jonathan Duncan <jonat...@bluesunhosting.com> wrote:
> Speaking of MBA, I recently read this article on management that > might be valuable to people in management or considering it: > > http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2006/06/the-management-myth/4883/ An excellent article for a number of reasons. One thing the author leaves out is the sheer bloody minded calculation: Is it worth two years (or whatever) of my life, complete with earnings foregone, to get this ticket to the presumed higher earnings? A few years ago I made the calculation for myself and decided not. You young whippersnappers may decide otherwise. I have a bachelors in Philosophy. That and $1 will get me a cup of coffee, but I am qualified to go onto any campus in the solar system and contemplate that cup of coffee. I did not go on to get a Phud in Philosophy because, as H. Beam Piper put it, I had done my four years in a raccoon coat. Stewart is correct that "The idea that philosophy is an inherently academic pursuit is a recent and diabolical invention." I thought while at university that philosophy courses teach too much of Aristotle said this, Kant said that, etc. and not enough of how to actually think about life, the universe and everything. They teach the history of philosophy, not philosophy itself. Stewart may well be correct that a degree in philosophy is more useful than an MBA. My father's advice was a bit more broad: if you don't know what you want to be when you grow up, then get a good liberal arts education. It is useful in any field. He was right. I had one course in computers at university, and hated it. Yet for more than 30 years I made my living as a software engineer and had fun doing it. And I used my background in philosophy in the process. So a good liberal arts degree will stand you in better stead in field A than a narrow degree in field B. The Economist covers management theory carefully and knowledgeably. They have remarked on the fads in management theory, sometimes with even more disdain that Stewart manages. Their writers are skeptical about the field. Yet they have lots of ads for MBA courses and the like. This may show the gullibility of MBA program advertising departments. :-) -- Charles Curley /"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign Looking for fine software \ / Respect for open standards and/or writing? X No HTML/RTF in email http://www.charlescurley.com / \ No M$ Word docs in email Key fingerprint = CE5C 6645 A45A 64E4 94C0 809C FFF6 4C48 4ECD DFDB /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
