Which Is The Hardest Discipline?
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Flamenco
Which Is The Hardest Discipline?
Which discipline do you think is the hardest to learn and by logical conclusion therefore, would attract the cleverest students.
Please cast your vote.
Please cast your vote.
Just to add to the debate. I certainly wouldn't cry down the social sciences (I am a sociology graduate afterall) as there is a huge amount of reading and debate involved but I certainly think the classics are more difficult subjects (Latin A level is my evidence for that one). I opted to do Classics at uni and then had a change of heart and took a year out and reapplied for Social Sciences and absolutely adored it. Maybe I am just confused.
For me personally Sciences would be the "hardest" subjects as I was absolutely totally and completely hopeless at them. When labelling a dissection of a rat in biology I was so hopeless that mine was labelled as both male and female in the hope of getting something right
For me personally Sciences would be the "hardest" subjects as I was absolutely totally and completely hopeless at them. When labelling a dissection of a rat in biology I was so hopeless that mine was labelled as both male and female in the hope of getting something right
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad !
Neither, all, and does it matter.
Some people find languages impossible to get to grips with and yet have a real flair with sciences and others are the other way around.
It would be a boring world if you everyone had the same likes/dislikes and abilities.
Does it really matter which is more academic?
Some people find languages impossible to get to grips with and yet have a real flair with sciences and others are the other way around.
It would be a boring world if you everyone had the same likes/dislikes and abilities.
Does it really matter which is more academic?
Absolutely agree with SSM so have not voted.
I did languages (including one people think of as 'hard' - Russian, which to me is beautiful, almost perfect and not especially hard). Sometimes people I meet tell me that I must be really clever because I am a linguist, and I always say that it is not so - everyone has strengths and weaknesses and you are lucky if you find them. For me, science would have been more difficult, though not impossible as my A levels were a mixture of arts and sciences (unusual in those days). OH is a science man and would have struggled more with the arts.
One point that is sometimes missed: sciences and maths demand a lot of learning of facts ( a doctor friend says the first 3 years of medical school are like learning a telephone directory) whereas the arts require an ability to think in grey, to tease out subtleties and to look carefully at nuances and tones; and to learn to express oneself effectively. Because of the nature of my work, I teach almost right across the curriculum and can say that there are many students for whom these skills are far harder than the facts of science. It is also harder to teach, as so much hinges on previous experiences and one's own exposure to ideas and language. There is often no 'right' answer. I have almost convinced myself to vote for arts on this basis!
But at the end of the day - sorry, but why does this matter? Horses for courses, as they say, and each to his strengths. The very hardest course for me would have been fine art, because of a total absence of any aptitude whatsoever.
I did languages (including one people think of as 'hard' - Russian, which to me is beautiful, almost perfect and not especially hard). Sometimes people I meet tell me that I must be really clever because I am a linguist, and I always say that it is not so - everyone has strengths and weaknesses and you are lucky if you find them. For me, science would have been more difficult, though not impossible as my A levels were a mixture of arts and sciences (unusual in those days). OH is a science man and would have struggled more with the arts.
One point that is sometimes missed: sciences and maths demand a lot of learning of facts ( a doctor friend says the first 3 years of medical school are like learning a telephone directory) whereas the arts require an ability to think in grey, to tease out subtleties and to look carefully at nuances and tones; and to learn to express oneself effectively. Because of the nature of my work, I teach almost right across the curriculum and can say that there are many students for whom these skills are far harder than the facts of science. It is also harder to teach, as so much hinges on previous experiences and one's own exposure to ideas and language. There is often no 'right' answer. I have almost convinced myself to vote for arts on this basis!
But at the end of the day - sorry, but why does this matter? Horses for courses, as they say, and each to his strengths. The very hardest course for me would have been fine art, because of a total absence of any aptitude whatsoever.
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T.i.p.s.y
Well I voted B! Scientists rarely have to think outside the box (unless making up waffle for things they don't know the answer to and therefore not being true scientisits 
) and it is very much a yes/no answer. I would exclude medicine from this. I am currently observing my sister in her 4th year and no qualification can match it.
IMO the hardest and most labourious degrees are:
Medicine
Law
and with these subjects it doesn't get much better after uni, especially Law!
) and it is very much a yes/no answer. I would exclude medicine from this. I am currently observing my sister in her 4th year and no qualification can match it.IMO the hardest and most labourious degrees are:
Medicine
Law
and with these subjects it doesn't get much better after uni, especially Law!
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hermanmunster
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T.i.p.s.y
Herm this is my argument about the maths and sciences. Those who have scientific minds find it so easy and are also fairly lazy so pick the subject where minimal effort is required! If I wanted to get a degree now for no other reason than to look educated I would sit a science degree.
As for the humanities, one may have a natural talent but the work load is still extreme.
I would put languages in the same category as A if you are linguistically able.
so pick the subject where minimal effort is required! If I wanted to get a degree now for no other reason than to look educated I would sit a science degree.As for the humanities, one may have a natural talent but the work load is still extreme.
I would put languages in the same category as A if you are linguistically able.
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hermanmunster
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