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Comment by Glyptodon | Hacker News Reader

I have two minors in liberal arts fields in addition to a CS degree (a BS) and the main reaction they've ever engendered is curiosity at how the minors are totally unrelated to a CS major. (IE there's a subtext of "why aren't your minor minors in math or science?" Because I guess they should be, or something?)

Even more annoying is the frequent assumption that if a person works with computers it's inconceivable that they might have a clue about design, writing, or art.

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From undergrad, I have a double major in East Asian Studies (concentration on Japan) and Aerospace Engineering. I no longer bother trying to explain the simple truth (they are both very interesting fields!) because no one seems to believe it possible for someone to be interested in both these things at the same time. Now, I just mention whichever major is more relevant to the conversation or job I am applying for etc.

I get this a lot. I have a Masters and several minors in nothing but Liberal Arts. But I work in CS at a fairly high level. It just blows people mind who have a hard time seeing how they can possibly ever relate to one another. To me they're all the same. I'm drawn and willing to learn whatever that interests me. If anything, I've always felt that I can learn CS on my own (which I did) but I wouldn't be able to learn Liberal Arts stuff if I wasn't exposed to it in a classroom environment.

I've gotten those same questions, but never felt a negative subtext. I've always considered the question an easy way to start a conversation about versatility.

It's negative when people start to pigeonhole you and tell you you can't do certain things because you're not suppose to know how.

The only constant at job interviews for me is the question: "So you majored in music...Why programming?"

As time goes on it becomes more and more irritating to respond to that question, although I suppose given someone's resume and told to interview them for a job, it's a natural starting place.

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