Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

From that last link:


specifically individuals in STEAM fields (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math)


Which one of those is not like the others?

So one guy out of how many?

The arts are still important. People in the arts are typically highly creative. Engineers, mathematicians, scientists- eh....not so much.

Steve Jobs wasn't an engineer, mathematician, or computer programmer. What he was, was a creative artistic f**k though, and he only built multiple billion dollar companies (Apple, NeXT, Pixar) and changed the entire world and built the most profitable company the world has ever seen by employing all those nerds you speak of and filtering his artistry through them to create globe-changing products and services.

don't think i'd consider jobs artistic. he was a brilliant marketer and ruthless businessman, and incredibly stupid about his own health, but that doesn't matter. he was a visionary, though, so maybe that qualifies him as artistic.

the arts matter a ton, though. painting and drawing, etc, might not appear of much use other than enjoyment of beauty, but the arts drive ideas and innovation. and i think engineers, carpenters, mathematicians, etc are very much tied with arts. they inspire engineers and push maths to come up with new concepts or solutions, even new problems to explore. and programmers have aided both of those professions in accomplishing those goals. imo, it was brilliantly creative minds that discovered the pythagorean theorem, perfected internal combustion engines, developed apple/iphone software...

having said that, we don't need half the population studying the history of those discoveries.

don't think i'd consider jobs artistic. he was a brilliant marketer and ruthless businessman, and incredibly stupid about his own health, but that doesn't matter. he was a visionary, though, so maybe that qualifies him as artistic.

the arts matter a ton, though. painting and drawing, etc, might not appear of much use other than enjoyment of beauty, but the arts drive ideas and innovation. and i think engineers, carpenters, mathematicians, etc are very much tied with arts. they inspire engineers and push maths to come up with new concepts or solutions, even new problems to explore. and programmers have aided both of those professions in accomplishing those goals. imo, it was brilliantly creative minds that discovered the pythagorean theorem, perfected internal combustion engines, developed apple/iphone software...

having said that, we don't need half the population studying the history of those discoveries.

You had me all pissed off until that last part.

great post and I'm with you there.

But are half the population really studying that? I'd be curious to know what the actual number is.

https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=37

according to the above... i have no idea. if it's included in the visual and performing arts, it's less than 5% (well under 5% because that's if that whole category was art history).

if it's included in social sciences and histories, it doesn't give overall %, but does show its in decline from the last 10 years over the prior 10 (by 10%).

conversely, engineering, computer and technology sciences, ag and natural resources, and health and related programs (among others) were all increasing over those same time periods.

I would have guessed ME >> EE, but I mostly was working around MEs.  I'd guess the biology has a lot of premeds in it.  What is "general engineering"?

To note, these are "majors" which could include freshmen who later will opt to something else, maybe.

I heard an astounding thing in a documentary I was watching about China the other day....

China is producing more engineers every single year than the United States has engineers. I realize China has 1.1+ billion more people than the US, but just hearing that...it's like wow.