Re: critical thought
I didn't make it too explicit, so I understand your confusion; my apologies. I am actually majoring in philosophy (although not looking to find a high-paying job in it) but was just making the side joke of how when you tell people you are majoring in philosophy that they always joke about what the heck you gonna do with that!?
But really to get at the idea that, as you mention, consciously studying good philosophy helps to teach one how to think critically in all facets in life. So it when a person says to me "what the heck you gonna do with that degree" I tend to think/explain the importance of living the examined life by being a rationally minded person. (This doesn't mean become a crazy intellectual, but rather simply be human and live it to the fullest in the search for rational truth, and truth itself.)
Take Care,
Phil
PS - Myself and a couple friends think that a philosophy 101 class should be taught in high school for this very reason, since there can be so much of forming of ones philosophy unconsciously at that time. They should learn to form it rationally and critically. (They should also stay away in that 101 class from this modern crazy philosophy stuff with mind/body problem and making us doubt our own or others existence that they deem as "classical problems of philosophy"; which only became problems when the moderns dealt with them. Maybe teach a basic philosophy of nature/human person and focus on the 3 prominent views of the human person of hylomorphism, dualism, and materialism. But that's for another topic 
)
