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Would you?

Sep 4, 2009#1

Andromache

If you had a magical 1 time 1 use undo button, is there any moment in your life you'd go back to and stop yourself from doing? Again, requires a suspension of disbelief in the laws of physics.

Sep 4, 2009#2

The Lovely Boehner

I would go back in time and stop myself from reading this thread.

Sep 4, 2009#3

Hylian

I would be constantly wondering if there was a time later in my life where it would be of more use. I also would constantly be worried about the affect it would have on my life. So I think if I did have such a device it would just sit on my shelf for most if not all my lif

Sep 4, 2009#4

Frankie Williamson

One time use huh? Damn, it would be hard to nail down so many things I wish I could undo.

Sep 4, 2009#5

Bonhomme Richard

I don't think I'd use it. I view everything I've done in the past (good and bad) to have been integral in shaping who I am today. I like who I am and would hate to change any part of it.

Sep 4, 2009#6

Ravenpoe

I'll go ahead and get the one everyone's thinking out of the way.

"I'd have told her how I felt."

Sep 4, 2009#7

Fun Size

No, I would carry it around in my pocket and use it as an excuse to act like a fool whenever I felt like it, because I could always just undo anything catastrophic. If done properly, I'd never use it.

Sep 4, 2009#8

Cajungal

Actually, yeah. The night my godmom committed suicide, I could have slept over at her house (my folks were going out of town, so I decided to stay with a relative). I decided to stay with my grandma instead, because Aunt Karen had been sick lately and I didn't want to be a burden. Now I think about what might have happened if I decided to go stay with her that weekend. She might not have done it if I was there, then maybe she could have gotten help and gotten better.

Sorry, that's an enormous bummer. Feels good to say, though.

Sep 4, 2009#9

Kitty Sinatra

She just would have waited a couple days, CG.

I'd undo which sperm mated with the egg. I'd be a whole new person and experience everything in a totally different way. I'd live two lifetimes at once! Yeah Physics - FUCK YOU!

Sep 4, 2009#10

Cajungal

I know you're probably right. And that's what any family member would tell me too. Still, given the opportunity, I would do that weekend over in a heartbeat, no matter what it meant about my own future.

Sep 4, 2009#11

SeraRelm

Yes, but only if I still ended up with my fiancee.

Sep 4, 2009#12

Shegokigo

There's only one moment in my life.

It would have been: Avoiding my current GF and never having met her.

Sep 4, 2009#13

Kitty Sinatra

Cajungal said:
Still, given the opportunity, I would do that weekend over in a heartbeat, no matter what it meant about my own future.

Of course. Just as anyone who had the slightest chance to stop Timothy McVeigh or Marc Lepine would likely go back and do so. Or should.

Sep 4, 2009#14

Bonhomme Richard

The title of this thread reminds me of:

Sep 4, 2009#15

Shegokigo

Oh no, wait, there is another one:

Taking back "coming out" to my parents at 15 and instead, lived my life as secretly as possible, live off them long enough to get out of High School and graduate college. After landing a REAL career, I would just drop them out of my life completely, leaving them wondering why and what they could have possibly done wrong.

Sep 4, 2009#16

Gusto

LIVE WITH INTEGRITY - NO REGRETS

Sep 4, 2009#17

Chibibar

I am happy now. I have a great wife, pretty solid career (and retirement future) and doing pretty good.

I am afraid if I change anything, I might miss the chance of getting what I have now (even if I go back in time and win the great lottery where I actually guess all the numbers right)

Sep 4, 2009#18

Lally

[hugs CG] I can't imagine constantly thinking something I did could have saved someone's life. I know if it had been me I would have a lot of trouble convincing myself otherwise. But I hope you don't really blame yourself for that.

My "one thing" is really stupid. I used to have a very close friend, and without telling the whole long story, we sort of drifted apart and would go for months without talking to each other (his choice, not mine). He would come back into my life only when he was bored, needed some attention, or needed some moral support, and because I missed him, I would let him back into my life, only for him to piss off again shortly thereafter. Well, the last time he contacted me, I told him if he was just going to pull the same routine again, that he could piss off forever. I haven't heard from him since.

There's no reason for me to want someone like that back in my life, but I miss our friendship. So, that's what I would change, even though I know it's stupid. I've done things that are probably more deserving of this magic trick, but that's the thing I want to change the most. Everything else I can live with.

Sep 4, 2009#19

Dave

This one is tough for me because I can clearly see moments in my life which I wish I could go back and do over. But would doing so prevent my daughter from being born? I mean, right out of high school I could have gone to college on a free-ride academic and track scholarship but I declined and went into the Marines. Biggest mistake of my life and yet one of the best things I'd ever done.

When I went into the military I knew nobody else but other white people and I come from a family that is not exactly progressive. Had I gone to college it would have been in South Dakota which would have been just as bad as small town Iowa for diversity. My meeting and rooming with a black guy was one of the best things for me as it made me open my eyes to what I thought about other people and how I needed to individualize instead of stereotyping.

Other things I wish I'd have done:

1) Not robbed my neighbor when I was 14. Yeah. I got caught fast and got the snot beat out of me. The only time my father ever hit me. Boy did I earn that one.

2) Cheated on my high school girlfriend with her best friend. First and last time I ever dovetailed. I still feel guilty about it and that was 25 years ago.

3) I never got on stage trying comedy until it was too late in life. I'd like to have been able to do it sooner. I gave up that dream because I couldn't tour with a family. I still play the "what if" game about that one.

There are other smaller ones that don't affect much like wishing I'd have let Zappit do his thing with the boards. Sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed with all the things I take on.

Sep 4, 2009#20

Andromache

i wouldn't have written that letter, and sent it, drunk. ^_^. Probably wouldn't have sent it sober either.

Sep 4, 2009#21

fade

OoooooooOOOooooooh yes. Unquestionably, undeniably yes. There is one thing I would undo a million times over.

Sep 4, 2009#22

Dave

fade said:
OoooooooOOOooooooh yes. Unquestionably, undeniably yes. There is one thing I would undo a million times over.

Get a haircut?

Ya hippie!

Sep 4, 2009#23

Denbrought

Practically all the things I ever do and say seem enormous errors a few minutes later but, at the same time, they're my life. Pressing the undo button would effectively be suicide, in the same way as causing oneself amnesia, under my criteria.

Sep 4, 2009#24

Covar

Can't say there is. I try not to live with to many regrets, probably a big reason I can be indecisive.

Sep 4, 2009#25

Frankie Williamson

I might try to undo what led up to me dropping out of college but then I would never have ended up in my current career choice but I might still be in the only relationship that's ever mattered to me in a creatively fulfilling job rather than this rather creatively bankrupt career I am in. I dunno, it's probably best I don't have that power.

Sep 4, 2009#26

Simfers

I can think of one or two, but honestly, I'm happy in my current situation and I would hate to change anything in my past that might lead me to land in a different one.

Sep 4, 2009#27

ZenMonkey

Instead of going back to school after two weeks when I had mono at 30, I would have quit the semester and gotten completely well.

No idea if anything would be different now, but it might be.

Sep 4, 2009#28

AshburnerX

I'd do it: I would have talked to my friend about my feelings for her sooner, before she got in a relationship with that other guy. I expect it would turn out the same way, but at least I would have had enough cause to completely remove her from my life when she did it then.

There are other events in my life I wish I could change, but this is the only event I can think of right now that I could change that wouldn't be potentially be undone by an anxiety attack at a later date, so simply changing a single event wouldn't help with those.

Sep 4, 2009#29

Seraphyn

I would've finished college instead of dropping out. Still would not have actually made it my career, but then at least I would've had a diploma out of it.

Sep 4, 2009#30

Espy

Would've talked to Joe more.

Sep 4, 2009#31

phil

I can think of a few things, some I'm pretty sure about and others I'm not.

1) I'd have been a better friend to sammy. He was annoying in middleschool, which lead a lot of us to avoid and make fun of him. I think that's what lead him down to drugs and eventually suicide.

2) I may undo my last relationship. Not because it was bad and I regret it happening, but if I know that it's not going to work out, I might as well spend those 3 years in more productive pursuits perhaps.

3) Not participating in my school's IB program. I think I would have enjoyed my high school life a lot more if I had been in the same classes as all my friends.

Sep 4, 2009#32

TwoBit

I kinda wish I had never been born. That wasn't any of my doing unfortunately.

Sep 4, 2009#33

Shegokigo

TwoBit said:
I kinda wish I had never been born. That wasn't any of my doing unfortunately.

Sep 4, 2009#34

Gurpel

Charlie Dont Surf said:
I would go back in time and stop myself from reading this thread.

but... if you did that, you would find the thread again and become stuck in an infinite time loop!

---------- Post added at 11:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:21 PM ----------

Charlie Dont Surf said:
I would go back in time and stop myself from reading this thread.

but... if you did that, you would find the thread again and become stuck in an infinite time loop.

---------- Post added at 11:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:22 PM ----------

Charlie Dont Surf said:
I would go back in time and stop myself from reading this thread.

but... if you did that, wouldn't you find the thread again and become stuck in an infinite time loop?

Sep 4, 2009#35

Twitch

There's two things I'd like to redo. One of them would be talking to a friend and the other would be telling another how I feel. The first is more important than the second so it would be the one. I'd have to buy someone elses redo so I could do both.

Sep 4, 2009#36

Steve

Knowing what I know now? I'd go back a week and purchase the correct numbers to the $250,000,000 powerball. I only missed it by 6 numbers.

Sep 4, 2009#37

HCGLNS

I'd stop myself from dropping the canoe.

Sep 4, 2009#38

Philosopher B.

A moment I'd stop myself from doing ... hmmm ... I dunno, can't think of anything in that vein specifically. I do wonder what it would have been like if I'd been sent to school instead of 'homeschooled', but that's not really something I had influence over.

Sep 4, 2009#39

Iaculus

Prevent myself from saying what I did in junior-school assembly when the local vicar came in to give us a speech.

... No, I'm not going to elaborate, but I think I gave a whole lot of people indelible scars that day.

Sep 4, 2009#40

ZenMonkey

Twitch said:
I'd have to buy someone elses redo so I could do both.

Since you appear more secure that a redo would make a difference, you can have mine.

Sep 4, 2009#41

Twitch

ZenMonkey;248747][quote=Twitch said:
I'd have to buy someone elses redo so I could do both.

Since you appear more secure that a redo would make a difference, you can have mine.[/QUOTE]

Actually you'll have to keep it. It I spoke to the first friend a small series of events would stop me from ever meeting the second one.

Sep 4, 2009#42

Enresshou

I'd go back and undo staying in the second year of a two-year long distance relationship. Girl devolved into doing the same shit over and over without understanding why I was angry, and--as I'm loyal to a fault--I missed out on a couple great girls, including one smoking hot petite Norweigian girl I met in my ballroom dance class.

Sep 5, 2009#43

Roxxoredizorz

I think we all can say, that sometime in our life, we'd use it, but we won't ever have the chance. Looking to the past is not moving forward.

Sep 5, 2009#44

Wasabi Poptart

I've always wondered what would have happened if...

but I don't know that I would want to chance losing what I have in my life now just to find out.

Sep 5, 2009#45

meyoumeyou

I would go back in time and stop Charlie Don't Surf from reading this thread.

Sep 5, 2009#46

ZenMonkey

meyoumeyou said:
I would go back in time and stop Charlie Don't Surf from reading this thread.

Sep 5, 2009#47

Bubble181

Ravenpoe said:
I'll go ahead and get the one everyone's thinking out of the way.

"I'd have told her how I felt."

I'd go quite the opposite route -- "I wouldn't have told her how I felt."

Anyway, I can think of lots of little mistakes, but I'm not sure which ones would be worth avoiding or what moments would be worth redoing...

Sep 5, 2009#48

drifter

I would totally do it right now. I just made the mistake of poking around in the NSFW forum. I hate you Cuyval. You go to hell and you die.

Sep 5, 2009#49

Pojodan

I'd go back to the 7th grade when I had a girlfriend and slap myself for not realizing it and make myself pay more attention to her so that I might be in a relationship today.

Jacenta was beautiful, smart, and funny, and I was an idiot for being so socially inept

Sep 6, 2009#50

Le Quack

I would stop myself from acting like a pussy about sleeping with the ladies. When it gets to a point, you just gotta buck up and whip your junk out.

Sep 8, 2009#51

lafftaff

I would go back & take up all those opportunities I had to learn Spanish. My father even spoke it but I never bothered to learn. I don't think my life would be much different having learned it. Of course, the only thing stopping me now from learning is my own laziness.

The other one I'm never sure about is college. I always wonder how choosing to go to a 4-yr college might have changed my life. But the path I've gone now isn't terrible either, just harder. Tough call.

Sep 8, 2009#52

Chazwozel

I would slap myself for ever getting into science as a career and instead focus myself towards ice hockey and med school if hockey didn't work out.

Sep 8, 2009#53

Shegokigo

I'm betting right now, JCM wishes he could have worn a condom. :slywink:

Sep 8, 2009#54

Rubicon

being born

Sep 8, 2009#55

Rob King

Ravenpoe said:
I'll go ahead and get the one everyone's thinking out of the way.

"I'd have told her how I felt."

Mine's the exact opposite, actually.

I knew I wasn't her type. Heck, I didn't even think she was mine. I knew that there could be no relationship. I knew her family would never like me, and my mother warned me away from her. I knew that it would complicate an already awkward social circle. And I know that, if by some cataclysmic accident we both got on the same page and started dating, it wouldn't have lasted anyhow.

But I told her anyways, and now 'shit is whacked' as the youngsters say.

If I could go one better, I'd consider preventing myself from going to that conference where I realized I was crushing on her, but there's no guarantee that I wouldn't just be delaying the inevitable.

Sep 8, 2009#56

Rob King

And just because I'm pushing the show as if I were that guy next to the dumpster behind the 7-11, a quote from Defying Gravity that fits the theme of this thread:

Maddux Donner said:
We never remember the ones we save. And we never forget the ones we fail. It's about taking responsibility for our choices. About learning from sacrifice. It's those hard lessons that shape us and how we respond; where we go in our lives.

I don't think there's ever been a man or a woman without some sort of regret, and that's probably a good thing. Because it's our failures, more than our successes, that make us who we are.

Sep 9, 2009#57

JCM

Shegokigo said:
I'm betting right now, JCM wishes he could have worn a condom. :slywink:

I never did for the past 20 years, Im supposed to have dead sperm with less than 0.1% of getting the girl pregnant.

Might be my only kid I'll ever get.

Sep 9, 2009#58

Math242

problem is if i changed what i want my whole life would be totally different and i have no fucking clue if it would better or worse.

i wouldn't even be the same person

Sep 9, 2009#59

ThatGrinningIdiot!

JCM;250830][quote=Shegokigo said:
I'm betting right now, JCM wishes he could have worn a condom. :slywink:

I never did for the past 20 years, Im supposed to have dead sperm with less than 0.1% of getting the girl pregnant.

Might be my only kid I'll ever get.[/QUOTE]

Good lord man! Just how many girls have been on the receiving end of your "holy scepter"?

Sep 9, 2009#60

JCM

BlackCrossCrusader;250924][quote=JCM;250830][quote=Shegokigo said:
I'm betting right now, JCM wishes he could have worn a condom. :slywink:

I never did for the past 20 years, Im supposed to have dead sperm with less than 0.1% of getting the girl pregnant.

Might be my only kid I'll ever get.[/quote]

Good lord man! Just how many girls have been on the receiving end of your "holy scepter"?[/quote]60, 7 girlfriends, minus a weird orgy in Thailand and a girl's boarding school which I didnt manage to count in (and yes, I write down each lay, sue me, I Brazilian).

While I don't I match up to the average frat boy's count (or Calleja) I pretty much enjoyed my youth, specially in Thailand and Brazil.

Math242 said:
problem is if i changed what i want my whole life would be totally different and i have no fucking clue if it would better or worse.

i wouldn't even be the same person

Sometimes I do think how would it like to be, to win at a lottery or sell everything I have, then move to some remote country, get a new identity and start up again, but I wouldn't change nothing about my life about now, except for the balding hair.

Sep 9, 2009#61

Shannow

Sep 9, 2009#62

ThatGrinningIdiot!

Mav said:
being born

Such melodrama . . . .

Sep 9, 2009#63

Vytamindi

OH YEA?? I WOULD STOP MY PARENTS FROM BEING BORN!

Not really. I would want someone to hold it for me just in case.

Sep 9, 2009#64

Chazwozel

BlackCrossCrusader;251006][quote=Mav said:
being born

Such melodrama . . . .[/QUOTE]

There is a quick and easy solution for those who regret being born:

Sep 9, 2009#65

Piotyr

I preface this by saying every experience in life likely shaped who I am today, and I would never, ever go back and "fix" anything that resulted in me ending up with a different wife and child, as they mean the world to me.

However, that said, there were many, many things I did early in life that I regret and wish I could change...

- I'd go back to my self in sixth grade and tell myself that being good in school and making an effort is not a character flaw, and that the most important thing about school is the learning involved. Whether or not I tried in school had no effect on my social life anyway. The letter on the report card doesn't matter, it's what I actually got out of it that counts.

- I'd go back to my self in high school and tell me to just stop all the self-editing. Being polite has its limits, and just being talkative is a lot friendlier and less creepy than sitting quietly and alone in order to prevent saying anything stupid. Oh, and women? They're just people too, so it's OK to talk to them as well.

- I'd go back to my self in college and tell me to go major in Computer Science because I love it and not consider the "future wealth" of the career choice ahead of time and go into electrical engineering. Because guess what, me? That future wealth will quickly vanish as soon as you graduate as the job market crashes anyway, so you might as well be left with skills and abilities you enjoy doing.

- I'd also mention to my college self that if she cheats on her boyfriend with you, no matter how many years I had a relationship with her, she was just as likely cheating on you the whole time, not just at the end.

- I'd go back and tell myself to be ecstatic and not be an idiot when I learn she's pregnant, because that child is the best thing that ever happened to me.

Sep 9, 2009#66

Shegokigo

Chazwozel;251012][quote=BlackCrossCrusader;251006][quote=Mav said:
being born

Such melodrama . . . .[/QUOTE]

There is a quick and easy solution for those who regret being born:

[/QUOTE]
The larger percentage of them don't have the brass.

Sep 9, 2009#67

AshburnerX

Not to mention it would also be a hassle for whoever survived you... at the very least, you'd be a bother to the city people who had to clean up your mess.

Sep 9, 2009#68

Shegokigo

A one-time hassle vs the lifetime of burden? Hmm.....

Sep 9, 2009#69

Chazwozel

Shegokigo;251159][quote=Chazwozel;251012][quote=BlackCrossCrusader;251006][quote=Mav said:
being born

Such melodrama . . . .[/QUOTE]

There is a quick and easy solution for those who regret being born:

[/QUOTE]
The larger percentage of them don't have the brass.[/QUOTE]

Of course they don't. Instead they mope and sulk about how unfair life is and how if they didn't have bad luck, they wouldn't have any luck at all.

Sep 9, 2009#70

Jake

Mav said:
being born

Sep 9, 2009#71

fade

Jake;251391][quote=Mav said:
being born

[/QUOTE]

You could go back to the womb and strangle your umbilical cord. Of course, then you'd have that ENORMOUS plot hole where your cellmate watches the scars appear on your hand, despite the fact that he's not outside the timeline like you are.

Sep 9, 2009#72

JCM

fade;251456][quote=Jake;251391][quote=Mav said:
being born

Now thats something out of a Japanese horror movie.

Sep 9, 2009#73

Hailey Knight

JCM;251475][quote=fade;251456][quote=Jake;251391][quote=Mav said:
being born

Now thats something out of a Japanese horror movie.[/QUOTE]

Or a shitty American movie.

Sep 9, 2009#74

CynicismKills

Been less of a slacker and finished my art degree.

Sep 9, 2009#75

Jake

Been more of a slacker and majored in art.

(sorry, couldn't be helped)

Sep 9, 2009#76

CynicismKills

Jake said:
Been more of a slacker and majored in art.

(sorry, couldn't be helped)

Right right, though actually the workload was fairly heavy, as it was a focus in game design.

Sep 9, 2009#77

Chazwozel

Jake said:
Been more of a slacker and majored in art.

(sorry, couldn't be helped)

Haha, that reminds me of my roommate in undergrad. He was bitching about his communications courses. I dumped my Organic Chem book on his nuts and told him to shut the fuck up.

Sep 10, 2009#78

JCM

escushion;251489][quote=JCM;251475][quote=fade;251456][quote=Jake;251391][quote=Mav said:
being born

[/quote]

You could go back to the womb and strangle your umbilical cord. Of course, then you'd have that ENORMOUS plot hole where your cellmate watches the scars appear on your hand, despite the fact that he's not outside the timeline like you are.[/quote] :eek:

Now thats something out of a Japanese horror movie.[/quote]

Or a shitty American movie.[/QUOTE]touche

Sep 10, 2009#79

Shegokigo

JCM, he's referencing a real movie....

Sep 10, 2009#80

Bonhomme Richard

Chazwozel;251626][quote=Jake said:
Been more of a slacker and majored in art.

(sorry, couldn't be helped)

Sep 10, 2009#81

Rob King

Bonhomme Richard;252092][quote=Chazwozel;251626][quote=Jake said:
Been more of a slacker and majored in art.

(sorry, couldn't be helped)

Haha, that reminds me of my roommate in undergrad. He was bitching about his communications courses. I dumped my Organic Chem book on his nuts and told him to shut the fuck up.[/QUOTE]I had something similar to that with a friend complaining about the cost of his books. Shut him up when I told him my Organic Chem book cost $200.[/QUOTE]

If there's one thing I fucking hate about University students, it's what happens when you gather several complainers from different disciplines, and throw them into the same room.

Suddenly, everyone's program is much harder than everybody else's. The music students have to practice too much. The science students have too many labs. The philosophy students have to read motherfucking Immanuel Kant. People start to explain why their work is more difficult. And anyone who argues that what they are doing is more difficult is just ignorant. Because (after all) if they weren't ignorant, they would be in your program.

Sep 10, 2009#82

Bonhomme Richard

Yep, that about sums it up.

Sep 10, 2009#83

Le Quack

The music students have it worst. They have 1 hour classes that actually take up 5 hours a week. Ensambles and ect. Not to mention the hours of out of class practicing ( up to 3-4 hours a day to be at the top of your class ).

This can easily turn a 15 hour semester into 40-50 hours of work.

Sep 10, 2009#84

Chazwozel

Rob King;252105][quote=Bonhomme Richard;252092][quote=Chazwozel;251626][quote=Jake said:
Been more of a slacker and majored in art.

(sorry, couldn't be helped)

Sep 10, 2009#85

Shegokigo

Chazwozel said:
Softcore Pornstar and Skinny Chef = hardest disciplines. Everyone else can shut the fuck up. /thread.

QFT

Sep 10, 2009#86

Rob King

Le Quack said:
The music students have it worst. They have 1 hour classes that actually take up 5 hours a week. Ensambles and ect. Not to mention the hours of out of class practicing ( up to 3-4 hours a day to be at the top of your class ).

This can easily turn a 15 hour semester into 40-50 hours of work.

Chazwozel said:
Science and Engineering = hardest disciplines. Everyone else can shut the fuck up. /thread.

Exactly.

Shegokigo;252338][quote=Chazwozel said:
Softcore Pornstar and Skinny Chef = hardest disciplines. Everyone else can shut the fuck up. /thread.

QFT[/QUOTE]

Wait, what?

Sep 10, 2009#87

rac3r_x

Selling my Harley.

Sep 10, 2009#88

fade

Practice = work but != difficulty.

There really is a rank of required brainwork to majors. It would be a happy pretty PC world if the same amount of brainpower was required for a physics or math degree as was required for a communications degree. Creative arts might muddy the water a little ... but not terribly.

Sep 10, 2009#89

Chazwozel

fade said:
Practice = work but != difficulty.

There really is a rank of required brainwork to majors. It would be a happy pretty PC world if the same amount of brainpower was required for a physics or math degree as was required for a communications degree. Creative arts might muddy the water a little ... but not terribly.

Right. Just because you study hard and attend all your classes doesn't necessarily mean you won't fail physics. Study hard and pay attention and communications is a breeze.

Sep 10, 2009#90

Bonhomme Richard

Chaz, I can't help but laugh at your statement (even though completely true). My wife was a communications major and I was biochem. We joke very often about the vast difference in difficulty in our majors.

Sep 10, 2009#91

Rob King

I'm still not sure though. I mean, obviously some degrees are a joke compared to others, but then you have aptitudes to take into account. I'm sure we all know people who would have no problem learning something like math, but couldn't get something in the so called 'social sciences' through their heads. And it's obvious when it comes to stuff like Music, that some people just have a feel for it that others don't.

And let's be honest. At some point, we entered discipline A because we couldn't cut it in discipline B. Whether it's a matter of not being able to wrap your head around it, or not having an interest, you cannot simply walk into a room of a dozen university students, all with different programs from yours, and honestly say "I could do every one of your degrees."

Sep 11, 2009#92

Jake

I went to an undergrad institution known for cranking out badass engineers. I know my science classes were tough, but I saw those guys bent over and torn a new one constantly.

As an aside (though I doubt any of these guys are engineering majors) this was awesome last night:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNMsybVooJQ[/ame]

Sep 11, 2009#93

Wahad

Rob King said:
I'm still not sure though. I mean, obviously some degrees are a joke compared to others, but then you have aptitudes to take into account. I'm sure we all know people who would have no problem learning something like math, but couldn't get something in the so called 'social sciences' through their heads. And it's obvious when it comes to stuff like Music, that some people just have a feel for it that others don't.

And let's be honest. At some point, we entered discipline A because we couldn't cut it in discipline B. Whether it's a matter of not being able to wrap your head around it, or not having an interest, you cannot simply walk into a room of a dozen university students, all with different programs from yours, and honestly say "I could do every one of your degrees."

This.

I'll admit that a physics course is hard - I couldn't do it - but that doesn't mean other course aren't hard. For some people harder than others, just like some people can breeze through a physics course while others have to put their entire day in working on it every day and every week to only barely graduate in the end.

Sep 11, 2009#94

Bonhomme Richard

Jake said:
I went to an undergrad institution known for cranking out badass engineers. I know my science classes were tough, but I saw those guys bent over and torn a new one constantly.

As an aside (though I doubt any of these guys are engineering majors) this was awesome last night:

Not the best of nights for my Alma Mater

Sep 11, 2009#95

fade

Rob King said:
I'm still not sure though. I mean, obviously some degrees are a joke compared to others, but then you have aptitudes to take into account. I'm sure we all know people who would have no problem learning something like math, but couldn't get something in the so called 'social sciences' through their heads. And it's obvious when it comes to stuff like Music, that some people just have a feel for it that others don't.

And let's be honest. At some point, we entered discipline A because we couldn't cut it in discipline B. Whether it's a matter of not being able to wrap your head around it, or not having an interest, you cannot simply walk into a room of a dozen university students, all with different programs from yours, and honestly say "I could do every one of your degrees."

Sep 11, 2009#96

Fun Size

I was actually an English major, but decided to go into computer science because I couldn't hack it. It took a while to overcome my lack of fear when in social situations and my ability communicate with other people outside of emails, but eventually I made my way through and now enjoy a fruitful career.

Sep 11, 2009#97

Chazwozel

fade;252748][quote=Rob King said:
I'm still not sure though. I mean, obviously some degrees are a joke compared to others, but then you have aptitudes to take into account. I'm sure we all know people who would have no problem learning something like math, but couldn't get something in the so called 'social sciences' through their heads. And it's obvious when it comes to stuff like Music, that some people just have a feel for it that others don't.

And let's be honest. At some point, we entered discipline A because we couldn't cut it in discipline B. Whether it's a matter of not being able to wrap your head around it, or not having an interest, you cannot simply walk into a room of a dozen university students, all with different programs from yours, and honestly say "I could do every one of your degrees."

Completely and totally disagree with your second paragraph. I don't think the majority of students, at least in the sciences, got into their major because they couldn't hack it in another. I think they got into it because they liked it, or because they found it a nice challenge. I also think there's quite a few people in the world who could do any major. In fact, I know quite a few people like me who majored in both a social science and a natural science to round themselves out (in fact we had a club for it). I can tell you this from personal experience: the social science classes were easy -- I could ace them in my sleep. I actually had to do some work for the science classes. It's true, there's aptitude to consider. But then I would be willing to place almost any amount of money on the bet that a successful (that's key) physics major could breeze through a communications major. They may hate every minute of it, but they could easily do it.[/QUOTE]

I minored in history to round myself out with a bunch of religion courses thrown in for fun. The Hinduism class I took... yeah...easiest A of my life. Same with the Geoffry Chaucer English Lit class I took. Don't get me wrong, those classes were really interesting, and I'm glad I took them, but they weren't a bitch like P.Chem was by a long shot.

---------- Post added at 03:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:41 PM ----------

Fun Size said:
I was actually an English major, but decided to go into computer science because I couldn't hack it. It took a while to overcome my lack of fear when in social situations and my ability communicate with other people outside of emails, but eventually I made my way through and now enjoy a fruitful career.

To be a proper English major, you must master the fine art of bullshitting. This also helps when you're writing NIH grants.

Sep 11, 2009#98

Fun Size

I was actually kidding. Apparently I'm better at bullshitting than I thought.

Sep 11, 2009#99

Chazwozel

Fun Size said:
I was actually kidding. Apparently I'm better at bullshitting than I thought.

To be a proper bullshitter, your bullshitting must somehow make you money.

Sep 11, 2009#100

Shannow

Religion?

Sep 11, 2009#101

Vytamindi

:aaahhh:

Sep 11, 2009#102

Chazwozel

Shannow said:
Religion?

The study of faith in ions. Duh. Retard.

Sep 11, 2009#103

Shannow

you worship ion?

Well, one pretend character in the sky is the same as any other, i suppose.

Sep 11, 2009#104

Rob King

fade said:
Completely and totally disagree with your second paragraph. I don't think the majority of students, at least in the sciences, got into their major because they couldn't hack it in another. I think they got into it because they liked it, or because they found it a nice challenge. I also think there's quite a few people in the world who could do any major. In fact, I know quite a few people like me who majored in both a social science and a natural science to round themselves out (in fact we had a club for it). I can tell you this from personal experience: the social science classes were easy -- I could ace them in my sleep. I actually had to do some work for the science classes. It's true, there's aptitude to consider. But then I would be willing to place almost any amount of money on the bet that a successful (that's key) physics major could breeze through a communications major. They may hate every minute of it, but they could easily do it.

Maybe 'couldn't cut it' was a bit extreme in my wording. But you sort of hit my second point with your Physics major example. Maybe he could breeze through a communications major, but if decides not to because he would hate it ... then do you see where I'm going with that?

At some point we choose our respective focuses, and whether it comes down to ability, intellect, or interest, we eschew the others. I just think it's arrogance and folly for someone to dismiss the other subjects that he decided not to peruse, just because he decided not to peruse them.*

And I have no doubt that there are people who can, and will try to do everything. A modern renaissance man. Heck, I sort of aspire to be one myself. But people who actually do that are far and few between, and so if I fail at being that incredibly well rounded, well ... it won't be that surprising.

* - I don't know about this 'Communications' everyone is talking about. I have never met a communications major, and I don't really know what it entails. Is it a business thing? Because if it is, it sounds like a joke. I have no problem with dismissing specific programs based on whatever criteria, but the trend seems to be to dismiss everything but your own area of focus.

Sep 11, 2009#105

Chazwozel

Rob King said:
At some point we choose our respective focuses, and whether it comes down to ability, intellect, or interest, we eschew the others. I just think it's arrogance and folly for someone to dismiss the other subjects that he decided not to peruse, just because he decided not to peruse them.*

And I have no doubt that there are people who can, and will try to do everything. A modern renaissance man. Heck, I sort of aspire to be one myself. But people who actually do that are far and few between, and so if I fail at being that incredibly well rounded, well ... it won't be that surprising.

I don't think saying a subject is easy necessarily dismisses it. I find art, literature, and theater to be extremely important to humanity (the humanities durrr), but I wouldn't necessarily rank them as being the most difficult things in the world to grasp with a little bit of research and motivation. But that's also the beauty of them, they're meant for everyone to understand and enjoy, at their own pace so to speak. Science and Engineering is not like that at all. It's a fast paced, competitive area of study with a lot of complicated concepts that can be very, very abstract to most individuals. To this day, I couldn't for the life of me know where to begin with figuring out physics questions. Once I had someone show me the equations to start with, I was fine. I could hack it in undergrad Physics but I knew I'd tank at the graduate level, and I like to think of myself as a hard working student. Hell, I knew bright kids in grad school who completely and utterly failed hard. These people were driven and motivated towards their subject. That sort of stuff just doesn't happen in humanities.

Sep 11, 2009#106

Rob King

Chazwozel said:
I don't think saying a subject is easy necessarily dismisses it. I find art, literature, and theater to be extremely important to humanity (the humanities durrr), but I wouldn't necessarily rank them as being the most difficult things in the world to grasp with a little bit of research and motivation. But that's also the beauty of them, they're meant for everyone to understand and enjoy, at their own pace so to speak. Science and Engineering is not like that at all. It's a fast paced, competitive area of study with a lot of complicated concepts that can be very, very abstract to most individuals. To this day, I couldn't for the life of me know where to begin with figuring out physics questions. Once I had someone show me the equations to start with, I was fine. I could hack it in undergrad Physics but I knew I'd tank at the graduate level, and I like to think of myself as a hard working student. Hell, I knew bright kids in grad school who completely and utterly failed hard. These people were driven and motivated towards their subject. That sort of stuff just doesn't happen in humanities.

You do have something there, I suppose.

I mean, I've complained time and time again about the morons I have to deal with in Philosophy. The kinds of guys who are 28 and ignorant, still going to school just so their parents will think "oh, well, he's doing something with himself." so they let him live in the basement. I hate those guys.

I do have a certain level of admiration for my science friends. Some of them are completely nuts. One of my friends just had a paper published on ... I don't even know. I tried to read it for solidarity's sake, but I couldn't understand a word of it. He assures me that there are a lot of Chemists who probably wouldn't understand it either.

But I guess what I'm really reacting against are the experiences I've had with arrogant science majors. Or, even worse, engineering students. I had one guy tell me that I should do a 'real' degree, and stop wasting my time on Philosophy, since I could just read that in my free evenings. He seemed to believe that reading philosophy for a half hour every once in a while was essentially equal to a major in Philosophy. After all that was what he was doing.

I felt like slapping him with some motherfucking Kant.

Sep 11, 2009#107

Chazwozel

Rob King;253054][quote=Chazwozel said:
I don't think saying a subject is easy necessarily dismisses it. I find art, literature, and theater to be extremely important to humanity (the humanities durrr), but I wouldn't necessarily rank them as being the most difficult things in the world to grasp with a little bit of research and motivation. But that's also the beauty of them, they're meant for everyone to understand and enjoy, at their own pace so to speak. Science and Engineering is not like that at all. It's a fast paced, competitive area of study with a lot of complicated concepts that can be very, very abstract to most individuals. To this day, I couldn't for the life of me know where to begin with figuring out physics questions. Once I had someone show me the equations to start with, I was fine. I could hack it in undergrad Physics but I knew I'd tank at the graduate level, and I like to think of myself as a hard working student. Hell, I knew bright kids in grad school who completely and utterly failed hard. These people were driven and motivated towards their subject. That sort of stuff just doesn't happen in humanities.

I felt like slapping him with some motherfucking Kant.[/QUOTE]

Reading Nietzsche still boggles my mind. That was one smart dude.

Sep 11, 2009#108

Shannow

Not going to lie, I was a comp science major. I loved programming as a hobby throughout high school, and decided upon graduation to transition this into my degree. I did well, too. But I realized that I would not want to do it as a job for the rest of my life, and instead, decided to go more towards where my interests were.

I switched to communications (gasp!), focusing on media relations and radio broadcast. I loved it. Had a complete blast at classes and interning, working my way through school with shit jobs and a non paid internship I loved. A truth though..the courses were cake. Not hard at all. But it was also something that captivated my interest, and as such, with its broad scope, I moved to my current career. which I do like.

The only thing I regret, and may have chosen to go to instead, was full on Media Library Sciences. I still may do that within the next year by going for my Masters in it, as that I can transition what I have already into this. Going to suck having to live broke as a student again though, after a few years of earning in the workplace.

I do not demean the major choices of others, because its all about what you do with what you got AFTER you are done there that counts. Some are much harder, this is true, but then again, you go to where your strengths are.

...except philosophy majors. Damn useless pricks!

Sep 11, 2009#109

Rob King

Chazwozel said:
Reading Nietzsche still boggles my mind. That was one smart dude.

Man. I remember when I read Thus Spoke Zarathustra. I had gone to visit a friend of mine, and discovered that the hostel I was counting on a room in had closed down. I couldn't afford a hotel, and blahblahblah.

Sat down in a 24 hr. coffee shop and started to read. I didn't even remember that night that humans slept. I just had coffee after coffee and kept reading. All the while, all I could think was: "Man, this guy would really hate me." And yet, I couldn't help but like him.

I must have missed a lot of it, and if I read it again now, maybe I'd catch on to stuff I was missing before, but while the book was in my hands, I couldn't care less. Nietzsche was speaking, and dammit I was going to listen.

---------- Post added at 07:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:48 PM ----------

Shannow said:
Not going to lie, I was a comp science major. I loved programming as a hobby throughout high school, and decided upon graduation to transition this into my degree. I did well, too. But I realized that I would not want to do it as a job for the rest of my life, and instead, decided to go more towards where my interests were.

Hey, that's exactly what I did. Except, instead of Communications I did ...

Shannow said:
...except philosophy majors. Damn useless pricks!

... Oh. Well, to hell with you too. :humph:

---------- Post added at 07:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:51 PM ----------

Shannow said:
I do not demean the major choices of others, because its all about what you do with what you got AFTER you are done there that counts. Some are much harder, this is true, but then again, you go to where your strengths are.

Oh, and on a more serious note, that's pretty much what I was trying to say before.

Damn. Maybe Communication isn't useless :eek:

rly:

Sep 13, 2009#110

fade

Yeah, like Chazwozel said: just because I think they're objectively easier, in no way implies disrespect. I love a lot of those majors, and wish I could work in some of them for eternity. Two different points, I assure you.

Sep 13, 2009#111

SpecialKO

Rob King said:
Maybe Communication isn't useless rly:

The thing with "Communications" is that its a very general descriptor for a field that covers a whole hell of a lot.

"Communications" programs can cover anything from retail floor sales to quantitative analysis of media distribution across a population segmented by age, income, and historical response rates.

It depends on the specific school and program.

Is it more "difficult" than physics? Not even close...but you'd be surprised at the number of physicists I've met who need to justify their funding who are scared of giving presentations.

Or maybe you wouldn't be.

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