With the rise of artificial intelligence emerging on the horizon at rapid speeds, a major in the humanities can provide things irreplaceable by AI or a STEM degree: the skills that come with being human. Declaring a major that isn’t based in the medical or business realm is becoming an increasingly daunting decision for many upcoming scholars. With the general public seeming to turn their noses up to the arts and humanities of academia, it can be challenging and frightening for many to choose that path. Some of the skills and philosophies taught within these focuses help craft creative, innovative, and critical minds.
The fault within the common argument for humanities and why it isn’t convincing many opposers or comforting any indulgers is that the humanities provide career-advancing skills. Yes, they do indeed! However, when looked at in that way, it is easy to make the same case for every other major offered at a university as well. Whose to say public health doesn’t provide skills attractive to jobs? Or say, the incredible practical skills learned in mechanical engineering? This is why the utilitarian argument that shows the practicality of humanitarian degrees seems to fall on deaf ears.
It is crucial to set apart the reason for studying humanities from the career you are pursuing at the end of your time within academia. This seems incredibly counterintuitive, but when you look at what you are truly gaining from your humanities degree it all makes sense.
It is less about what job your degree will set you up for and more so what the journey and lessons will teach you as a human being. Accepting the unfinished and unknown of it all provides a level of thinking that allows for variety and creativity. Not many other degrees can do this.
Worth More Than a Dime
“The actual value of the arts and humanities has nothing to do with money. It is that same value Socrates identified with the Athenians before he was put to death for heresy and corrupting the youth: the value of knowing that we do not know.” -Matt Burriescie, “The Arts and Humanities Aren’t Worth a Dime.”
In Matt Burriesci’s article “The Arts and Humanities Aren’t Worth a Dime” he explains this nuanced way of tackling the importance of humanities within academic debate. Burriesci explains the ways a degree can change you as a person rather than what it can set you up to become within a career.
It goes on to criticize the utility argument explaining that it is already know that the humanities can aid in the business field and that bending to the other side’s standards will win a battle but lose the war. He cites that in a society where machines are beginning to take center stage replicating jobs and other essential positions, some of the most important teachings will be ones of philosophy and English. He argues that the morals and critical thinking skills taught within the humanities will be the most valuable once technology continues to advance.
A humanities degree challenges the ways we go about living our lives. Providing nuances and perspective to the ways we think and the ways others think. These skills aren’t in textbooks or YouTube lectures. They occur in classrooms and conversations. The feeling of leaving an English theory class with a new way to think about challenges and people is a feeling irreplaceable by many other avenues of learning.
So, is studying humanities really worth it?
To answer the question this article is focused on, yes a degree in humanities is worth it. It not only provides excellent social and writing skills with a flare of creativity, but it also offers a chance to change the way you think about life and yourself.There is never going to be an “English Job” or an “Art History Job,” of course, unless you stay within academia and teach said areas, but they will provide those interested with an avenue to fulfill their passions. There are benefits to doing what you love and loving what you’re doing.
As we see artificial intelligence taking flight at incredible speeds, narrowing the job pool, and making writing and learning as simple as clicking a few buttons, it is important to keep in mind what sets us as humans apart. Learning the value that we all possess as people who live on this planet is a skill that so many people never learn in life but it can be found in the classroom of an English class discussing the philosophies of the likes of Socrates or Plato.
The value in yourself
Becoming the happiest and most creative version of yourself is the key to efficacy and productivity, It enhances so much more than the day-to-day. Tools that can be taken out of the classroom and used for years to come provide the most long-term value. So yes, a major in humanities is worth it and just like any STEM major, it does provide those who choose to learn with life-changing lessons.
