When was the last time you heard a student being encouraged to pursue philosophy with the same demand and prod as computer science? It’s clear that the future is in the hands of the engineers, doctors, and scientists, while the humanities, literature, history, and the arts are increasingly being labeled and seen as impractical and unsuccessful. However, as our world is slowly becoming more AI-focused, the skills of critical thinking are becoming the most essential tools we have. We are starting to forget that while science hands us the tools to build our world, the humanities are the ones that give us the reasons to live in it.
In school, it is assumed that STEM is “smarter” because it is objective. There’s always a right or wrong answer. It feels like a perfect measurement for intelligence with no gaps for biases and opinions. An A on a math test feels like an undeniable proof of smartness, while the grade on an essay can be different from teacher to teacher. While the right and wrong nature of math provides a sense of security, you’re still following a path that many have already traveled down.
In a piece of writing, there is no pre-paved path. You have to figure out how to use the information and evidence you have to build a foundation and structure your own path. Being correct in a lab is about following built-in instructions, while being insightful in a history paper is about original thinking.
While science provides the foundations to understand the world, the humanities provide wisdom that decides how that power and knowledge should be applied to human lives. We are obsessed with the “how” of everything, such as how to develop technology faster and how to automate our jobs. However, we are failing as a society to answer the “why.”
A society that is technologically brilliant but illiterate in ethics is a dangerous thing. This can be observed in the everyday tech we use, such as algorithms designed to track the things we like and watch, making platforms like TikTok and Instagram addictive, and generative AI platforms that individuals can use to create unthinkable things to trick and manipulate others. No one in the places that created these technologies was trained to think about the sociological impact of their code.
Additionally, we have fallen under the myth of useless degrees. As a society, we label the humanities as “soft skills,” or in other words, easy skills. However, navigating complex dilemmas or interpreting the nuances of cultural conflict can be very difficult. In a time when AI can generate lines of code in the blink of an eye, the ability to think critically and empathically while also communicating a unique, individual perspective isn’t just a hobby. Rather, it is a competitive advantage. As much as we tune AI to try to even grasp true and genuine human emotions, it will never feel the weight of true sentiment.
The irony is that when we de-emphasize the arts and history, we aren’t making students more prepared for the world. Instead, we are stripping them of the skills to last in the real world. The real world doesn’t come with lab instructions or a multiple-choice answer key. It’s blurry, subjective, and full of gray areas. If we spend our whole lives only solving problems that have one singular right answer that everyone lands on, we will be paralyzed when life doesn’t provide that.
I believe that it is time to stop treating the humanities like the lesser subjects. Science keeps us alive, and technology makes living more efficient, but it is the arts that bring life meaning, and the meaning of life is to bring life meaning.
