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Philosophy graduates are pretty darn smart

Many thanks to ShahHusseinKCL for this chart. Controversial obviously, but look where philosophy is placed. This chart draws on diagrams that I previously posted here.


Comments

Fergus Gallagher said…
I'm feeling even more smug (guess what I studied).
June 3, 2012 at 4:03 PM
Alex said…
Hi! I am trying to locate one of your earlier, and related, posts in which you argumented (with data and links) that studying philosophy was a really good choice and a great predictor of professional success in life... Can somebody help me find that post? Thx.
June 3, 2012 at 4:12 PM
Paul S. Jenkins said…
I studied architecture, so I'm slap bang in the middle. (So maybe I should keep quiet...)
June 3, 2012 at 6:34 PM
Unknown said…
Oh. It never occurred to me that this might be controversial. errm... oops?

@Alex -- Surely, you just want the page pointed to by the "here" hyperlink at the end of the above post? Since you're asking, I think you might find this video interesting too.

Also, if anyone is interested in how I calculated this then read my original post. But be warned, there's a (tiny) little math involved.

To quote a friend who was reading my post "Oh, to be honest, I didn't read that. Just saw maths and then it was over..."
June 4, 2012 at 2:11 AM
Stephen Law said…
Well it is controversial exactly what conclusions can be drawn from GRE scores. Tostemaihat's what I meant....
June 4, 2012 at 10:55 AM
Unknown said…
Oh, I see. I thought you meant about how people get very angry every time someone plots IQ against some other variable.
June 4, 2012 at 11:35 AM
Anonymous said…
Isn’t IQ something of a red herring? See Aboriginals and the Great Game tray test. Surely its what you do with what you’ve got that counts. Some members of Mensa seem to have difficulty tying shoelaces.
Apparently the RAF believe philosophy to be a desirable study for recruits. Perhaps when confronted with a brain that insists the ‘plane is straight and level. While instruments indicate a perilous attitude. Being able to appreciate that your mind might just be plain wrong, is advantageous.
June 4, 2012 at 5:25 PM
Unknown said…
Actually, the more I look at this graph, the more irritated I get. I wish I had the full data so I could calculate error bars for each point.
June 5, 2012 at 12:22 PM
Carbon Dated said…
Philosophers may be 'pretty darn' smart, but physicists are astronomically (ahem) smart. That gap between them and everybody else is Secretariat-winning-the-Belmont sized gap.
June 5, 2012 at 9:19 PM
Anonymous said…
Carbon Dated said...
physicists are astronomically (ahem) smart.
They certainly need to be. As dark matter, force and space, appear leaps of intellect commensurate with devising a deity. Lets pray they pan out.
June 6, 2012 at 3:43 PM
Unknown said…
Am I right that neither law or medicine are explicitly included? Surely these are amongst the most stereotypical careers for the brightest and hard-working kids?
June 7, 2012 at 10:17 AM
Unknown said…
@Adzcliff -- I believe this is how the american system works:

MCAT -> Medical College
LSAT -> Law School
GMAT -> Management
GRE -> Every other graduate school.

That's why you don't see medicine or law.
June 7, 2012 at 10:36 AM
Unknown said…
Aah, thanks ShahHussainKCL! Would be interested to see how medicine, law (and thinking about it veterinary science) feature in amongst all this. Of course I'm not suggesting this is your job - am off to see if Stephen's other links give any insights here...
June 7, 2012 at 11:26 AM
personal injury attorney mesa az said…
Graduating with a degree can really make you smarter than ever. It is an edge to everyone because they know that you have finished and accomplished something. Great post. Thanks for sharing!
June 8, 2012 at 9:33 AM
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