It’s an unfortunate truth, but it has become controversial to suggest that humanities degrees are equally as important as science degrees.
It wasn’t always this way. Centuries ago, the best-educated people all studied humanities. Art, music, languages. Things like poetry and philosophy were considered the highest of humanity’s achievements. But in the 21st century, we have seen a depreciation in the value placed on the arts. Students in the humanities face degradation for studying what they love, and it becomes second nature to defend your choice in degree.
Art teaches us about the human condition.
But there is no life without art. The humanities are what give life meaning. What would your existence be without songwriters, composers, authors and screenwriters? We need the humanities just as much as we need the sciences because art teaches us about the human condition. There comes a point where numbers and charts and measurements are just empty data. Books show us characters who are reflections of ourselves, who show us we are not alone in our struggles. Music can be an expression of emotion when feeling becomes too much.
We need humanities just as much as we need sciences.
One key difference between the arts and the sciences is that the sciences prepare you for specific occupations. You study engineering to become an engineer. You study kinesiology to go into sports medicine or physiotherapy. But the humanities? They give you skills that can be applied to nearly any job. Critical thinking, argumentation and debate skills—these are life skills which will come in handy regardless of your career field. Those who say humanities don’t prepare you for the ‘real world’ may not realize that you will receive training in your chosen career, and you’ll have to pick things up as you go. No degree will fully prepare you for entering the job market, but the humanities will give you marketable skills that will help smooth the transition. And another plus? Humanities students can do what machines can’t. There are some fields of math and science that can’t say the same.
The liberal arts are anything but useless.
Another misconception is that humanities students are unemployed after college. But there have been numerous studies done that show that liberal arts students are both employed and satisfied in their jobs. That’s right—we now have scientific support for the claim that the liberal arts are anything but useless. So next time someone criticizes you for your liberal arts degree, you can remind them that humanities are just as important as the sciences.
Photo by Brás Cubas on Unsplash
I support the above, it is a wrong opinion that humanities are not needed by anyone, just these days they have become less noticeable due to the fact that the world is driven by technology.