NationStates Jolt Archive

Every time I tell someone about my major, they look at me with a peculiar look. A look that says "Ohhhh that explains quite a bit about the lack of adventure in your life". So what if I find debating cycles of democratization in the west, or learning about Locke? Just because I love to learn about and discuss various measures of politics, doesn't make me a boring person, or does it? Do any of my fellow political scientists find that their lives are lacking adventure, and it shows because of their field of study? What does NSG think? Is political science a study for the boring crowd?

Yes.

...But what do I know, I studied Computing :p

Yes.

...But what do I know, I studied Computing :p

Oh dear, I do believe you might have it worse. :p

Haha, absolutely not. I'm a Poli Sci major, and several of my friends are. I don't think we're boring.

Politics is interesting, why shouldn't the study of it be equally as interesting?

Yes.

No, I'm interested by politics (In fact, I intend to study it at A level, as my only non-scientific subject).

However, mathematics and computer science beat it out for University majors.

Sorry...my immediate reaction to someone being a poli sci major, is to assume that they are a pretentious ass.

And, well...you usually are.

*checks off Poli Sci on list of majors not to take in college*

I'm looking at International Studies or History. Or, If I do well on the four AP tests, I could double major.

No, Pol Sci professors have written some of my favorite books.

I can't think of a subject more boring and trivial than political "science."

Q: How many poli"sci" majors does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Political 'science' majors can't change shit.

Yes you are, and I object to the use of the word 'science' to describe the study of politics.

Not that I can talk: I applied to Uni to read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics last year, but thankfully I saw the error of my ways and rejected all my offers before it was too late. I'm re-applying this year for Philosophy and Maths.:p

I can't think of a subject more boring and trivial than political "science."

Q: How many poli"sci" majors foes it take to change a light bulb?

A: Political 'science' majors can't change shit.

On that theme:

Q: How many socialists does it take to unscrew a light-bulb?

A: None: it contains the seeds of its own revolution.

Q: How many conservatives does it take to change a light-bulb?

A: What do you mean? The light-bulb is functioning perfectly and is a credit to us all. How dare you insult its sacrifice by suggesting that it's no longer working! The idea that we're currently in complete darkness is simply defeatist propaganda spread by the liberal media.

Every time I tell someone about my major, they look at me with a peculiar look. A look that says "Ohhhh that explains quite a bit about the lack of adventure in your life". So what if I find debating cycles of democratization in the west, or learning about Locke? Just because I love to learn about and discuss various measures of politics, doesn't make me a boring person, or does it? Do any of my fellow political scientists find that their lives are lacking adventure, and it shows because of their field of study? What does NSG think? Is political science a study for the boring crowd?

Focusing on one topic of interest is inherently boring.

Now if you told me you were a political science major who worked his way through college wrestling alligators, that'd impress me. :)

Q: How many conservatives does it take to change a light-bulb?

A: What do you mean? The light-bulb is functioning perfectly and is a credit to us all. How dare you insult its sacrifice by suggesting that it's no longer working! The idea that we're currently in complete darkness is simply defeatist propaganda spread by the liberal media.
Gold.

I studied Politics at A - Level, was my best subject and I'm a party person...just yesterday I led a stage invasion of a friends bands gig. However at university I'm not going to be studying politics. Journalism and English Literature FTW!

Q: How many conservatives does it take to change a light-bulb?

A: What do you mean? The light-bulb is functioning perfectly and is a credit to us all. How dare you insult its sacrifice by suggesting that it's no longer working! The idea that we're currently in complete darkness is simply defeatist propaganda spread by the liberal media.

:D

Well, considering my brother does an equivalent of pol sci, I suppose I can't say it's too dull. Though I'm not sure why it's called a science. I find it interesting to read about, but not something I'd study.

for most people you being a polysci major implies that you are interested in running for office some day or working closely with someone who does.

didnt politicians recently sink lower than used-car salesmen on the most trusted profession list?

Yes. Also there is the fact that normal people instinctively hate pol sci majors, and lawyers too.

Focusing on one topic of interest is inherently boring.

Now if you told me you were a political science major who worked his way through college wrestling alligators, that'd impress me. :)

What about pandas? Think of the pandas!

Every time I tell someone about my major, they look at me with a peculiar look. A look that says "Ohhhh that explains quite a bit about the lack of adventure in your life". So what if I find debating cycles of democratization in the west, or learning about Locke? Just because I love to learn about and discuss various measures of politics, doesn't make me a boring person, or does it? Do any of my fellow political scientists find that their lives are lacking adventure, and it shows because of their field of study? What does NSG think? Is political science a study for the boring crowd?


As a Pol Sci major I've never had that problem. I've had people who never went to uni look confused however...

I can't think of a subject more boring and trivial than political "science."

Q: How many poli"sci" majors does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Political 'science' majors can't change shit.

Commerce student?

Yeah :(

I'm a criminal justice major so everyone immediately takes two steps backs and sniff themselves for some reason.

Every time I tell someone about my major, they look at me with a peculiar look. A look that says "Ohhhh that explains quite a bit about the lack of adventure in your life". So what if I find debating cycles of democratization in the west, or learning about Locke? Just because I love to learn about and discuss various measures of politics, doesn't make me a boring person, or does it? Do any of my fellow political scientists find that their lives are lacking adventure, and it shows because of their field of study? What does NSG think? Is political science a study for the boring crowd?

It beats the hell out of a marketing degree, that's for sure.

That being said, political science suffers from two significant yet related flaws: it's not so much science as applied political philosophy and/or history, and lots of political scientists don't like to admit this so they gussy up their thinking with lots of either pretentious numerical claptrap or pseudo-intellectual post-modern gibberish. Mind you, of course, this comes from a guy very much on the qualitative, non post-modern side of the divide in political science. The value of it, of course, is that it tries to take the tools of philosophy and history and apply them to current situations. The bad news is that such an applied discipline often looks bad by comparison with the purer liberal arts. If you can handle the "looking bad", then it's for you. If you would rather focus either on the history or the philosophy side without mixing the two, then you're better off staying in those disciplines.

Sorry...my immediate reaction to someone being a poli sci major, is to assume that they are a pretentious ass.

And, well...you usually are.

It's very true. I'm a poli sci major and most of the people in my major are huge tools. Many bad things may be said about me, but I don't think you'll ever hear anyone claim I'm pretentious. I fit in badly.

I'm getting my Ph.D. in political science.

Now, excitement?

One day I climbed on the roof of a Staples to drop a banner while my friends ran around inside dressed as giant red staplers preying on defenseless old-growth trees.

I've been arrested, tear gassed, pepper sprayed, beaten, and shot with plastic bullets. Mostly for political causes, but I was also once hauled down naked and drunk off the roof of a building.

When my friends throw a party and someone asks, "Is it going to be crazy?" the most-favored response is, "Well, Elric's coming." I've never known anyone to turn that kind of invitation down.

Then again... I was a philosophy/math kid as an undergrad, and now I'm political theory. We don't think like the rest.

I've been arrested, tear gassed, pepper sprayed, beaten, and shot with plastic bullets. Mostly for political causes, but I was also once hauled down naked and drunk off the roof of a building.I've been detained (they ended up not arresting us because they needed the paddywagon for some looters), pepper sprayed, tear gassed, thrown into the side of a building by cops, had my glass snatched off my face and stomped on by cops who pretended it happened as an accident when they were trying to snatch off the bandana covering my face...I've also been investigated by Immigration, had my house raided multiple times by immigration officers, and I've been banned from the bars in three small towns:D

But at least I was never a poli-sci major :P

No. You are mostly quite interesting, I find. If I thought I could find a job with a poli. sci major I'd be trying for it. I dpn't think I can though, so I'm going to take Poli Sci, International Developement, International Relation or History as a minor. An Enviromental Science as a major, not that related but, I'm willing to shoulder the debt for a better education.

I can't think of a subject more boring and trivial than political "science."

Q: How many poli"sci" majors does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Political 'science' majors can't change shit.

Scare quote overload! *asplodes*

Could be worse, you could be a philosophy major.

...and I object to the use of the word 'science.'


Why? Virtually any topic can be studied or examined in a scientific manner. Science is simply the methodical process of testing a hypothesis via the collection/observation of data. A politican or groups of voters does X, I develop various hypotheses/models as to why, and then I observe/collect evidence and eliminate the unsupported hypotheses/models.

What exactly makes human behavior special or unsuitable for study?

The "science" in Political Science is not the assertion that the objects of study (politicians or voters) necessarily act with scientific rationality when making decisions or taking actions. The assertion is that the ones doing the studying can do so according to the scientific method. The point is not to do politics, the point is to study politics. (EDIT: This is why I do not plan to "go into politics" when I get my Political Science degree; I HATE when people ask me if I'm "going into politics." Of course not! I'm going into political science. If anything, asking a student of political science if he or she plans to become a politician is like asking a medical student if he or she plans to become syphilis or whooping cough or a gallbladder.)

Those undergraduate or otherwise college-aged who are skeptical about the "science" in Political Science need to conduct an original research or thesis project under the supervision of a faculty adviser in order to find out how mistaken they are. But it's not entirely your fault; most people's exposure to social science ends with high school "social studies," which is just the brute memorization of facts. Collecting and organization of basic facts is very important, but it is only part of the overall process and the entire scientific/empirical part of the process is being left out. This is why such "social studies" are entirely devoid of any focus on or concern for the scientific method or empiricism in general. And this is why people have such a difficult time with the "science" in Social or Political Science later on, when they reach the college/university level. This is a very serious problem, and needs to be fixed ASAP.

But really, take some high-level university seminar courses that examine and discuss actual research, or conduct your own research/thesis project with a faculty adviser in Political Science, and be exposed to genuine Social Science before drawing any conclusions.

Such would be the scientifically sound and empirical approach to the issue, after all ;)

Could be worse, you could be a philosophy major.

Or a meanie who doesn't respond to TGs.

Poli-sci folks always seemed pretty normal to me - not boring, but not especially exciting. I dunno. :p

Every time I tell someone about my major, they look at me with a peculiar look. A look that says "Ohhhh that explains quite a bit about the lack of adventure in your life". So what if I find debating cycles of democratization in the west, or learning about Locke? Just because I love to learn about and discuss various measures of politics, doesn't make me a boring person, or does it? Do any of my fellow political scientists find that their lives are lacking adventure, and it shows because of their field of study? What does NSG think? Is political science a study for the boring crowd?

Political Science isn't a science. Better to call it Political Theory. I've never found it boring. Certainly not as boring as Business Administration. It least in Political Theory you can get into some good discussions about Marxism, Fascism, Ayn Rand, Hobbes, Locke, etc.

for most people you being a polysci major implies that you are interested in running for office some day or working closely with someone who does.


That implication is only valid in reference to those students who are simply looking for job/career training, not to those who are actually interested in doing science (and the same is absolutely true for computer science, engineering, chemistry, biology...).

Track down the relatively small handful who focus their undergraduate/post-graduate education on learning how to do, and actually doing, original research or at least something more than the designated office coffee maker operator, and you'll have found the core of genuine Political (Computer/Engineering/Chemistry/Biological...) Scientists-in-training.