steve kwan user experience designer

Having a degree in Arts is worse than having no degree at all.

(June 3rd, 2004)

I recently set my MSN name to the above and got quite a bit of attention from a co-worker of mine. "I have an arts degree, you know," he snapped. "So does your boss."

Unfortunately, the sad truth is that I'm right: an Arts degree is absolutely worthless. A lot of people get degrees simply because they think they need them...either to gain respect or better employment. Now, I could very well argue that that's no reason to pursue education...but if you want to get respect or better employment from a degree, at least get a degree that's worth something. Get a degree in Computer Science or Engineering. Don't get a degree in arts. When someone tells me that they have a degree in Computer Science or Engineering, I might think they're a chump, but at least I understand that it takes a bit of brains to make it through four years of university with majors like those. On the other hand, if you're going to brag about a degree in Arts, I'm going to assume that your parents paid your way through university, but you didn't succeed at getting into a decent major because your grades were too low, so you wound up in the catch-all school known as the Arts...or as I call it, TEH AARTS.

I guess you can't help creating controversy online with a line like that...call me the Eminem of MSN. But I think there is a resounding truth in what I've said; after all, who majors in Philosophy because it's what they want?