

Silicon Valley needs humanities students - wyclif
http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/19/silicon-valley-needs-humanities-students/

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phamilton
He makes a good point that non engineers can often see the big picture more
effectively. On multiple occasions I've seen engineers categorized into
"product builders" and "problem solvers". Problem solvers like the difficult
problems and once they've solved a problem they get bored and move onto
another. If you have a directory of unfinished projects on your machine, you
probably fall into this category. The product builders see difficult problems
as barriers and just want to get them solved. They polish and finish products
that get shipped.

In my experience a combination of both types makes a great team. The problem
solvers abstract away the complicated stuff that the product guys don't want
to do. The product guys are then free to release and update the product.

I think it's a valid point to say that a humanities major with basic
programming skills can make an excellent product builder. It is not, however,
so much as an end goal, but more of a naturally evolving relationship between
different personalities and interests.

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dccoolgai
While the suggestion that engineers can't see the big picture may have some
anecdotal weight behind it, I find the notion dated and somewhat offensive.

Most of the "big picture" stuff being discussed is fundamentally intuitive. A
person may or may not "get it" - but that has almost no correlation to getting
a humanities degree. Engineering skills on the other hand...

