I Need Help With A Very Important Decision!!! (NOT Related to Poker)

[PokerProdigy]

I am a 20 year old college student and am in a dilemma about what majors I should get because I am find three majors very fascinating. However, I do NOT want to get 3 Bachelor degrees (at least not yet). So I think that I need to decide on which 2 subjects to major in, and then maybe later on down the road I can get the third one (for fun).

The 3 subjects in question are Economics, Philosophy, and Psychology. However, I have pretty much made up my mind that I will get a degree in Economics because if I go to graduate school in one of these subjects it will most likely be Economics. Also, Economics has more job prospects for people with a Bachelors degree than both Philosophy and Psychology.

So my question is, should I get a degree in Philosophy or Psychology? Basically, I want the degree that will benefit me the most personally, academically, and professionally. So, which degree would compliment Economics more? And which degree would help me receive a good/solid well-rounded education?

So, to restate my main question, I want to know which degree you think I should get (Philosophy or Psychology), AND MORE IMPORTANTLY WHY SHOULD I GET THAT DEGREE? You can answer this question however you want. You can lay out some pros and cons of each, or you can address the questions in the above paragraph. Basically, I am just looking for some more factors to consider, which will help me make the best decision. Furthermore, I do NOT care which one will help my poker game more, I just want to know which one will help ME more.

P.S. I have posted this on multiple forums, so don’t get upset if you’ve read this somewhere else[img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img].

[steamboatin]

Psychology and it isn't even close. Unless you want to go into TV Evangelism (+EV if you aren't worried about the afterlife). Psychology will help you understand people and that will be +EV in all of your endeavors.

[steamboatin]

Disclaimer: I have 9 credit hours of college and I believe that is plenty so take my advice with a grain of salt.

[just2ska]

dont' do philosophy... it's really only good if you intend to go to Grad school for law or somehting...

psych all the way

[roundhouse]

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Psychology will help you understand people and that will be +EV in all of your endeavors.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a common misconception. And if I see anyone else type "and it isn't even close" I might just scream. It is very close.

Before I go on. I no nothing of the US system (which I assume you're in) harking from the UK as I do, but I know a fair bit on these subjects. I have a BSc in Psychology which included a year's worth of Philosophy courses (I went on to do an MSc is something not a million miles away from Economics too).

You should do which ever one you enjoy more. Both will teach you transferable skills (problem solving, structured thinking, writing & presentation skills etc.). Both are really a collection of very disparate subjects. I don't think one has an advantage over the other in terms of fitting with your Economics degree. If you have the option to try both, do it, then decide.

My 2 cents on each subject (dusting off my memory):

Philosophy. All science can trace it's origins to philosophy. All religion and politics have philosopical content and critiques. In other words, philosophy touches everything. If you do it well it'll make it might make you a more logical being; but you're not going to have any practical exciting stuff to do (lots of textbooks, discussion and writing). Majority of philosophy students are male.

Psychology. A science - don't let anyone tell you otherwise - and one of the newest. Being a relatively new science it is not as well understood by joe public (and this includes future employers). This leads to ignorant Qs like "can you tell what I'm thinking then?" and the like. Being a new science there are more developments; theories tend to have a shorter shelf life in new sciences, which leaves plenty of scope to discover genuinely new stuff. But unless you intend to become a lecturer/researcher this probably doesn't matter so much. Work wise psychology nutures many of the same skills as philosophy but adds hands on stuff like designing and carrying out experiments... on people.

And the most important thing. Majority of people taking psychology are female (7 to 1 ratio when I did it [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] ).

RH

[Girchuck]

Definitely Psychology, if everything else is equal.
Psychology will enhance your understanding of economical models most of which assume that people are rational agents. In psychology you will learn that people are not usually rational, and how their irrationalities can be taken into account to improve economical theories.

[poker-penguin]

It depends what part of eco you are most interested in.

Basically, Macro goes with philosophy (esp political philosphy) and Micro goes with Psychology.

[mikewvp]

Psychology. Philosophy is fun but I prefer to read / practice whatever on my own time. I would greatly prefer to be instructed about a science like psychology that has years of research and fact behind it.

[LuvDemNutz]

I vote Psych too -

I was an undergrad Psych major so I am biased - I later went on to get an MBA.

Philosophy is interesting but I can't really think of things that you'll learn that will aid you in the "real world".

At least with Psych you may be able to apply things you've learned with your Econ degree (ex - examining consumer purchase decison-making behavior).

Also, if your analytical (which I assume you are given you're interest in Econ) you might enjoy some of the stats that is tought in many Psych classes.

In sum, I think combining the two degrees (asumming you take the right mix of courses) could give you a really solid foundation to take into grad school.

[Bodhi]

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Philosophy is interesting but I can't really think of things that you'll learn that will aid you in the "real world".

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Ummmm, howabout writing and critical thinking? A lot of science majors I meet can hardly construct a written proposal or parse their way through legalistic prose.