I know of at least one software company that when face with that very situation, would likely pick the English Lit major almost every time. Their experience so far as been that when they hire a CS person they get someone who is good at learning CS in a classroom. When they pick someone who is an English Lit (or whatever) major who is also a programmer, they're picking someone who is able to learn the essentials of CS on their own. In a field that's constantly changing, having someone who can self-motivate and has the ability to pick up CS under their own steam is an asset. Not saying that's the way it should always be. Just putting it forward.

Interesting that one of the "high tech" weapons (Project X-Ray) is essentially a souped up version of Genghis Khan's strategy when he attacked Volohoi - except he probably didn't spend $2 million on research.... and it worked.