response 3 of 89:

Jul 21 12:55 UTC 1991

If you do it for pleasure and don't make money off of it, it's a
hobby.

I'm looking forward to participating in this conference also.

response 5 of 89:

Jul 21 21:33 UTC 1991

looks to me like Larry has big hopes for this conf...B-)

response 7 of 89:

Jul 23 02:43 UTC 1991

"History major" - isn't that something you become after flunking out of
engineering?

response 9 of 89:

Jul 23 15:43 UTC 1991

I'm not knocking liberal arts - it's just that everyone I knew as an undergrad
that decided to bail out of engin ended up as a history major.

response 11 of 89:

Jul 23 19:43 UTC 1991

One might not like engineering after seeing the way it works. It is not
necessarily a 'flunking' effect. I studied engineering, completed my studies,
got my degree, worked at high tech companies. I still don't like the
human factor in the engineering field, that is the engineers' attitude.
May be it is the lacking human approach, and clumsiness in human relations.
I am not saying I changed it for better, after all, I studied engineering
after high school. That shapes you somewhat.

response 13 of 89:

Jul 25 00:31 UTC 1991

Everything is a stepping stone, even an engineering degree.  What are you
planning to step onto next?

response 15 of 89:

Sep 10 00:10 UTC 1991

The more I think about what I'm going to do when I go back to scool,
the more I want to dive right into Greek and Latin so I can get into
a program of Classical Studies someday.  

response 17 of 89:

Oct 10 23:46 UTC 1991

'Tis a pity.

response 19 of 89:

Oct 11 04:10 UTC 1991

   I was lucky, my first year in college, to take a course in
ancient Greek history that breezed over the points of agreement, 
and spent most of its time considering the current academic
controversies about the period.  I've been interested ever
since, 'though my sense of Greek history after the Peloponnesian
War is a bit confused.  Not enough controversies, I guess.

response 21 of 89:

Sep 11 02:24 UTC 1992

On the high-tech vs. liberal-arts question, my experience runs just counter
to what some of you expressed - in a way.  A few years back it seemed that
half the people I knew were music (many), philosophy, or English majors/grad
students who'd become computer jockeys of one sort or another.  The common
reason was the job market.  (Many had gotten entry-level computer jobs to
support their schooling & found it impractical to switch after schooling was
over.)

response 23 of 89:

Sep 15 10:30 UTC 1992

The skills developed by the more technical academic disciplines (e.g.,
history) are quite useful in many other fields.  Programming is indeed well-
suited; the ability to systematically view a problem and to weigh conflicting
considerations clearly applies.  (In my opinion, also, a historian who's not
rigorous isn't much of a historian, and this also is a key in programming.)
There are many other fields of which this could be said.  But as far as
the kind of qualifications that employers like to see on your resume ...
you can go to grad school (to prepare to teach, or to postpone the issue);
or you can look for something in politics or a think tank or something like
that, as someone's research assistant.  (RA to a writer of historical fiction?
I doubt it; I suspect they started as frustrated historians themselves.  But
add "write historical novels".)  I can't think of much else off hand.

Unless academic history (or philosophy or whatever) - which translates as
teaching with your own research added as well - is a real possibility, you
may as well admit that you're self-indulgently taking this stuff because
you LIKE it, maybe because you hope it will make you a more well-rounded
person.  That's fine, although it's an expensive hobby with tuition where it
is.  No doubt this is socially useful, and in a truly enlightened culture we'd
all be philosopher-kings at $1.2M per year ... although Plato's view of the
philosopher-king didn't involve any personal luxury, rather the opposite if
anything.

response 25 of 89:

Sep 17 14:07 UTC 1992

Did I say there were huge openings in any of them?  If you can afford to take
it because you enjoy it, IMHO it's likely to improve the world in a small
way, but it's an expensive way to have fun.

response 27 of 89:

Jun 22 05:16 UTC 1993

There's a statue.