[intrepidhero]

One of the most useful classes I took in college was a freshmen level philosophy class that I took because I needed 3 more credits of gen. ed. and it was at a convenient time. The prof spent the entire first lecture on this seemingly obvious concept:

If your ideas aren't clear, your writing won't be clear either.

It was like fireworks went off in my head. The realization that unclear writing (prose or code) was a signal that something was missing in my mental model, that there is a continuous feedback loop between the work I'm setting down and the ideas that I'm refining, became the foundation of all the work I've done since, from system design, to troubleshooting problems, to exploring my internal self.

That kind of clarity, where I knew the thing I was learning was going to be important was rare even in technical courses from my chosen field. But a lot of classes that felt "useless" at the time turned out to have important effects, seen only in hindsight.

[asplake]

I majored in maths, did as much computing as I could (even getting special dispensation along the way to drop statistics), and passed on the philosophy and business options. It worked out well enough (I got a 1st), but still, nearly 40 years later, if I had my time again I might make different choices.

[Aaronstotle]

I majored in Philosophy, and the largest benefit is that you walk away from the discipline with a good sense for how to communicate well, a natural consequence of distilling large ideas into short papers.

[SketchySeaBeast]

Not just communicate well yourself, but also to understand what someone else is communicating poorly.

[marcosdumay]

The less you know about something, the more impactful are the next few things you learn.

But you still need to learn a lot about some subject if you want to use it professionally.

[ryanlpeterman]

This is an interesting take. Thanks for providing a perspective that isn't a technical class. I agree clear thinking is critical.