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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Onveric]

I usually spend my time reading 2+2 but I figure I would contribute here.

I have two degree's myself, one in Engineering and the other in Economics. So I spent a fair amount of time in school (5 years) do full dual degrees in both and I am pretty sure that Psychology will be a better match with economics.

Economics at heart is the study of two things, scarcity and utility. Scarcity of course means that we have unlimited wants but limited resources to fulfill those wants as society and as individuals. Utility is the study of how we individually solve the scarcity problem by maximizing what we get out of our limited resources.

Psychology which I know little about is the study how why humans do, and react as we do. If you combine the ideas of Utility and Psychology you can have some very interesting discussion and subject matter about why people don't always pick their optimal utility point, and a variety of other economic subjects.

For example there was an article in the NY times earlier this year (you can probably Google it up) about a research who was exploring how monkeys interacted with money, and if they could understand its concepts. Its an interesting paper from an economics point of view as the monkeys do maximize their utility as well as from psychological point of view as it makes mention of one monkey trading sexual favors for money.

I've enjoyed what my economics degree brings to my engineering work in understanding the market underneath my projects and I think Physc is an excellent match for an economics degree.

[PairTheBoard]

I'd suggest psychology. Find out what makes people tick, including yourself. You've got the rest of your life to read philosophy, history, literature, poetry, etc. for pleasure and to further your education. Intro classes in these subjects are nice for future reference.

PairTheBoard

[Bodhi]

Major in Philosophy. Many great economists throughout history have also been philosophers, e.g. Adam Smith, Henry George, Karl Marx... the list goes on. Philosophy will teach you to write clearly and concisely, and to pick apart all sorts of pseudo-argument. Lastly, there is inter-disciplinary work between economics and philosophy called rational choice theory, which you might find very interesting.